Full Circle
by WarriorPrincess8402
Summary: When Elizabeth's daughter Gail is diagnosed with leukemia and given five years to live, she is shattered, and her friendship with Hyacinth is tested like never before. Can Hyacinth FINALLY learn to stop being so self-centered and start being there for Elizabeth, or will Hyacinth's narcissistic ways actually destroy their friendship?
1. Happy Graduation Day

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on the BBC television series _Keeping Up Appearances_ written by Roy Clarke, which as far as I know, is the property of the BBC. **No infringement is intended.** I also want to add that much of this story was inspired by the movie _For the Love of My Child: The Anissa Ayala Story_ , written by Anna Sandor.

 **Chapter 1: Happy Graduation Day**

As Louis Armstrong's _What a Wonderful World_ began playing in the background, Elizabeth Warden couldn't help but agree with the lyrics as she listened to the words and smiled. Today, it really _was_ a wonderful world. The fifty-three-year-old housewife's life usually revolved around the typical household chores, as well as continually working to pacify the unending list of social demands placed on her by her painfully overbearing next-door neighbor, Hyacinth Bucket. But thankfully, today, things were quite different. Today, she got to take a well-deserved break from it all, let her hair down, and really enjoy herself, which was something that, thanks to Hyacinth, she didn't get to do very often.

Someone then tapped Elizabeth on the shoulder and asked, "Young lady, may I have this dance?"

Elizabeth turned around, and her smile grew even brighter when she saw that it was her brother Emmet asking her to dance.

"I'd love to," she answered, and then the sister and brother began to dance.

"I must say, Liz, it's been quite a while since I've seen you so relaxed."

"Yes, that's true. One could say the same about you as well. You're looking a lot better now, and I'm not just talking about being more relaxed now that you're away from Hyacinth for the day. I'm relieved to see you've gained some weight back."

"Hyacinth took such a toll on my nervous system that for a while, it was difficult to eat, but you were right when you kept telling me that I had to stop letting her get to me so much. And as far as today is concerned, yes, it's quite easy for a person to relax knowing that an encounter with Hyacinth isn't anywhere on the horizon for a while. I must say, sister dear, bravo to you for keeping Gail's graduation party a secret from Hyacinth."

"I wish I could take the credit, but you know as well as I do that we have Aunt Maggie to thank for all of this more than anyone else," Elizabeth admitted.

Margaret Fields, now age seventy-eight, was the older sister of Jane Hawksworth, Elizabeth's and Emmet's mother. Both of Elizabeth's and Emmet's parents had been killed suddenly in a car wreck eight years ago, and ever since then, they'd grown closer to their aunt than ever before. Maggie and her late husband had never been able to have any children of their own, so she had very much been like a second mother to them over the years as they'd grown up, and it had been especially important to her to be a kind of mother to them and grandmother to Elizabeth's daughter Gail after the terrible car accident had happened.

So naturally, when Gail's live-in boyfriend Harold broke up with her and moved out of the flat they had shared in London together, her Great-Aunt Maggie, who also lived in London, didn't hesitate to take her in so she would still have a place to live that was near her college campus. Without Harold there to pay his half of the rent and other living expenses, it had been impossible for Gail to stay in her flat and Maggie had come to the rescue. And although Gail had completed her bachelor's degree, she still had a long road ahead of her on her way to becoming an attorney. She'd just gotten accepted into law school, and while still working as a law student full-time, she also had a part-time job working under a team of experienced attorneys at a London law firm, so her living situation with her Aunt Maggie was quite ideal for the time being.

And in addition to providing a roof over her daughter's head when she needed one, Elizabeth's Aunt Maggie also proved herself to be an excellent source of protection against Hyacinth. Elizabeth and Maggie had always been close, particularly after the untimely passing of Elizabeth's mother several years ago, and Liz talked to her aunt about practically everything – and that included her dreadful next-door neighbor. Over the years, Maggie had heard all the horror stories about how this monster named Hyacinth Bucket (who claimed her last name "Bucket" was properly pronounced "Bouquet") managed to become a thorn in the side of an entire town, not to mention her poor niece and nephew. She'd heard all about how domineering and condescending Hyacinth was, and how she could make all the people around her constantly feel as though they had to walk on eggshells. Maggie also knew from all of her niece's horror stories just how nosey and intruding Hyacinth could be. Obviously, they knew all too well that if Hyacinth were to find out about Gail's big graduation party at Maggie's house that Saturday afternoon, she would undoubtedly find a way to butt in where she didn't belong, completely take over what was supposed to be a family event, and make it all about _her_. Mercifully, Elizabeth, Emmet, and Maggie had the foresight to plan ahead, and they agreed that Elizabeth and Emmet would get out on the road and start the long drive to Maggie's house late that Friday night – preferably _after_ Hyacinth had gone to bed – so that she couldn't catch them leaving, demand any explanations, and force her way into the situation. More often than not, Hyacinth did manage to force her way into Elizabeth's and Emmet's affairs, but thankfully this time, they successfully sneaked off into the night and away from Hyacinth. By the time Hyacinth discovered they were gone the next morning, they were already in London with their Aunt Maggie and Gail, and it was far too late for their impossible next-door neighbor to interfere.

"Well yes, I agree that Aunt Maggie played a big role in our escape from Hyacinth, but let's not forget that it was you who drove the getaway car," Emmet teased, and Elizabeth responded with a relaxed laugh.

"I can't believe it, Emmet," Liz said with a sigh. "I can't believe that that precious little baby girl I first held in my arms twenty-one years ago has actually graduated from college and gotten accepted into law school. I feel like it was only yesterday that the doctor first told me I was pregnant with Gail. Now she's so grown-up."

"Indeed," Emmet agreed. "You're so right, Liz. It seems like it was only moments ago that Gail was this cute, sweet, adorable little girl in pigtails and braces. Now, she's a woman. It's astounding how fast time flies."

"They grow up before you know it."

"I hate to bring up a sore subject on such a happy occasion, but I still can't get over that big, bald buffoon you're married to. I know Frank has missed countless wedding anniversaries and birthdays and recitals and things over the years, but missing his own daughter's college graduation?"

"Years ago, I would have been too furious at him to see straight," Elizabeth admitted. "Now, things like this don't even faze me anymore. I've gotten used to it, and sadly, I suspect Gail has, too. Frank has always been a workaholic. Even back before he accepted that big promotion and moved to Saudi Arabia nine years ago, he was always far more married to his career in the oil business than he was to me. And when he left for Saudi Arabia, I won't lie. It hurt. It made me feel rejected, abandoned, and angry, but I eventually learned to cope. What really got to me was the way it hurt Gail, having to grow up without a father all these years. He may have provided for her financially, but he was never _there._ He was never present in his daughter's life when she needed him as she was growing up. I could understand Frank losing interest in me and leaving for Saudi Arabia to lead his own life, but leaving his own _child_? Frank always claims he does it so he can provide a more comfortable life for us, but we were doing just fine financially before he took that job abroad."

Emmet shook his head and told his sister, "No, Frank took that promotion and moved to Saudi Arabia for _Frank_ and for no other reason. The man's so entrenched by the idea of climbing one step higher on that endless corporate ladder that he can't see anything else beyond it, not even his own wife and child. He knew perfectly well that with the archaic way women are still treated in Saudi Arabia, moving there with him and raising your daughter in that kind of environment was never an option. And I just want to state for the record that Frank – or _any_ man on this planet for that matter – who loses interest in a woman as lovely and wonderful as you is clearly out of his mind."

Elizabeth laughed a bit and responded, "You're just prejudiced because I'm your big sister."

"Alright, perhaps I am a little prejudiced, but it happens to be true," Emmet insisted as he turned Elizabeth on the dance floor.

The next moment, after Elizabeth was back in her brother's arms resuming their dance, she said, "Well, thank you, brother, dear. I'll take a compliment wherever I can get it. And anyway, as I said, if this had happened years ago, I would have been furious at Frank for not taking some of the vacation time he's got saved up and coming to be here for our daughter's college graduation, but I think Gail and I have gotten used to this sort of thing by now. We both have had to learn to do a lot of things on our own without Frank, and we did. Gail and I got through book reports and term papers and algebra tests and colds and the flu and teenage hormones and first crushes and first dates and old boyfriends and new boyfriends and four years of college without Frank. Getting through a college graduation without him? Piece of cake."

"That-a-girl, Liz," Emmet said kindly as he kissed her on the forehead. "Chin up."

"And besides, let's not forget that we get to spend the whole day with Gail and Aunt Maggie and all our other friends here at the party today, _completely_ Hyacinth-free. Now if _that_ isn't a cause for celebration, I don't know what is!" Elizabeth said aloud with a chuckle.

Before Emmet could respond, Maggie turned off the music and started tapping her champagne glass with her knife, getting the crowd's attention.

"Excuse me," her strong voice rang out through her lounge. She had a very lovely two-bedroom house, and almost all of the walls, including those of the lounge, were a simple eggshell white, filled with pictures of her with her husband, as well as pictures of the rest of her family. There were also numerous paintings on the walls throughout her house that were very exquisite and would have made Hyacinth quite jealous, and most of the floors throughout her house were a deep mahogany, and they were also adorned with incredibly lovely rugs. Ordinarily, there was a light blue settee and matching blue living chairs and other furniture in Maggie's lounge, but today, almost all of it had been moved out of the lounge so that all the guests would have plenty of room to dance. "Excuse me," her voice called out again. "Attention, everyone. Today is obviously a very special day. Today, our little Gail has graduated from college – and made _me_ feel very old," she joked, and everyone responded with a laugh. "I can remember when this girl was only a baby. Heck, I can remember when _her mother_ was only a baby! I watched Elizabeth and Emmet grow up, and then I watched our little Gail grow up as well. And now, our little Gail isn't so little anymore. Now, she's a college graduate and she's about to begin law school. _Law school._ Ladies and gentlemen, we have to face facts. Our little Gail is now an adult. Gail, _when_ did you grow up?" Maggie teased her, and Gail laughed along with everybody else. "Liz, Emmet, when did _you two_ grow up for that matter?"

"Well _I_ did. Emmet still hasn't yet!" Elizabeth kidded, and again, everyone laughed, especially Maggie.

"Oh, Gail," Maggie finally continued, "I guess what I'm trying to say is…I'm proud of you. You've done your mother, your Uncle Emmet and me so proud. You've graduated from college with honors. You've grown up into not just a very beautiful, but also a very intelligent young lady who expects the highest standards from herself. I admire that. We all do. You're going to make a very fine attorney someday, and you are already a very fine young woman. Again, we're all so proud of you, and we love you. Happy Graduation Day, sweetheart," Maggie said as she held up her glass, which was about halfway filled with champagne, and in the next second the room filled with applause.

Gail immediately responded by walking up to Maggie and kissing her cheek. After a big hug, Maggie said, "I think it's time we heard a few words from our college graduate."

The young girl with long brunette hair and her mother's lovely blue eyes was hesitant at first, and she shook her head.

"Oh go on, Gail," Liz urged her on. "You'll be giving plenty of speeches in courtrooms in the future, anyway. Just think of this as practice. Go ahead."

Everyone there responded by further encouraging Gail with their applause, until finally, the young graduate was left with no choice but to speak up.

"Thank you," she began softly, and everybody began quieting down. "Thank you, everybody. Well, I knew when I was fifteen years-old and I first decided that I wanted to be an attorney that I'd have a long road ahead of me – four years of college, then four more years of law school – but I knew in the end that it would all be worth it. I've officially reached the half-way point of the journey today, and I know I never could have done it without all your love and support," Gail said.

The crowd answered with a big, "Aw."

"I especially want to thank my mum and my Aunt Maggie. Mum, you were always there for me every step of the way, believing in me every single day. You helped me to have confidence in myself. And Aunt Maggie, just like my mother and my Uncle Emmet, you've always been there for me every time I needed you. It was thanks to your generosity that I was and still _am_ able to have a roof over my head while I continue my education here in London. I can't thank you guys enough for everything you did for me."

Applause filled the room once more, and Liz didn't hesitate to throw her arms around her only child and give her a big hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, Gail, I can't tell you how proud of you I am," Elizabeth beamed.

"And I'm equally proud," Emmet added, and then he too kissed his niece on the cheek. "You've done an exemplary job."

"I'll say! Not every mother can say that her daughter graduated from university with honors and got accepted into law school," Elizabeth bragged.

"I guess it's a good thing I have a better head for the classroom than I have for romance. My choices in love haven't exactly been wise," Gail kidded with a roll of her eyes.

"Well you'll gain more wisdom as you get older, dear. Don't you worry about that," Maggie suddenly chimed in, and they all greeted her with kind smiles.

"Yes, love, Aunt Maggie's right," Emmet agreed. "With age comes wisdom. And anyway, it's much better that you found out what an idiot Harold is _now_ , not ten years and two kids later."

"You're right, Uncle Emmet," Gail agreed. "It wasn't exactly _fun_ walking into our flat four months ago and discovering him with that blonde bimbo, but like you said, Emmet, it's much better that I found out now and not after ten years of marriage and two kids. Maybe this whole idea of 'finding your true love' is overrated. I'm probably better off just focusing on my career."

"Yes, well, call me old-school and naïve, but I still believe in true love," said Liz. "I still believe there's someone out there for everyone. You'll find your Mr. Right one of these days, Gail. But I think Aunt Maggie and Emmet are right. I think perhaps it is better to wait until you're a little older first before you get that serious about anybody again."

Elizabeth didn't want to say it out loud in that moment, and certainly not where so many other people could overhear her, but the truth was, she had never been very happy about Gail's previous living arrangement with Harold. She would have preferred for Gail to have waited until she was a little older and more mature – and _married_ – before she moved in with a man. Liz wasn't some kind of prudish killjoy, of course, but because of her Christian faith, she believed premarital sex was wrong, and she did have old-fashioned values. But while she had let Gail know how she felt about it when she decided to move in with her then boyfriend, Liz was never condescending or judgmental about it like Hyacinth had been, and in the end, the mother and daughter decided to agree to disagree on the whole subject and move on. And when Harold suddenly ended things with Gail a few months ago and broke her heart, Liz was hurt right along with her daughter, but she knew in the long run that it was probably for the best. Gail had only been nineteen years-old when she'd moved in with Harold, and Liz felt that that was still much too young for her to be getting in such a serious relationship.

"And there's another bright side to all of this as well," said Maggie. "Had you not seen that two-timing Harold for who he really was, you would probably still be living with him in his flat over the next four years while you finish law school. Now, I'll have my favorite great-niece here, living with me."

Gail was really touched by her great-aunt's kind words, and after kissing her cheek, she told her, "Aunt Maggie, you're so sweet."

"Just telling the truth, my dear."

"Gail's right, Aunt Maggie. You're the sweetest, most thoughtful aunt anybody could hope for. And speaking as a mother, it means the world to me to know that my Gail is going to be here with you as she goes to law school – and _not_ with Harold," Elizabeth said pointedly.

"Hear, hear," Emmet agreed.

Moments later, the discussion turned to other topics. They got to talking about Gail's classes in law school and what her plans were for her future career, and Elizabeth scolded Gail for not getting enough sleep because she could clearly see it in her daughter's eyes that she was tired. Gail, however, dismissed her mother's concerns, blaming her fatigue on all the preparing she had to do for her finals and then for her graduation day. Then the subject changed again, and they got to talking about Emmet's latest project with the local amateur operatic society that he was in charge of. Overall, it was a calm, contented, easy day for Elizabeth and Emmet. No hassles. No headaches. _No Hyacinth._ Just family, friends, good food, good music, dancing, and pleasant conversation. That was how Liz and Emmet spent the day at Gail's graduation party in London, and it was an immense blessing they greatly appreciated. Little did they know that their happy day together, their brief reprieve from Hyacinth, was just the calm before the storm. After the storm hit, they would never again be the people they were now on Gail's special day.


	2. A Personal Emergency

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 2: A Personal Emergency**

It's the phone call every mother fears the most: the phone call telling her that something's happened to her child; that her child's been rushed to the hospital. Seven weeks after her daughter's graduation party, that was the call that Elizabeth received from her Aunt Maggie, and from that point on, her whole world was turned upside down. According to Maggie, Gail had come down with something about three weeks earlier, and she just simply hadn't been able to shake it off. And that day, Gail suddenly collapsed in the kitchen, and Maggie had rung for an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

After calling the church hall, where Emmet and his cast were rehearsing for their latest musical, to inform him about what had happened to Gail, Elizabeth rushed into her car and practically flew out of the driveway at the speed of light. Next door, Richard was doing some gardening out front, and Hyacinth was standing behind him scolding him about some silly detail he'd forgotten about that morning, when they both suddenly saw Liz's car fly down the road in a big, white blur. As would be expected, Hyacinth's attitude was _much_ less than helpful.

Hyacinth put her hands on her hips in that moment and complained, "How very rude! Doesn't Elizabeth realize how lower-middle-class it is to go tearing down the street at such high speeds? You'd think that after living next door to someone as cultured and refined as I am all these years, she'd know better."

Richard, who had been bent over trimming a bush, stood up straight then, looked at Hyacinth, and suggested, "Perhaps something urgent has come up. Perhaps it's a personal emergency of some kind."

"A personal emergency?" Hyacinth mused. "She's got no right having personal emergencies without informing me first!"

"Hyacinth, it's not as if people _plan_ to have emergencies. They just happen. And anyway, whatever it is that's going on with Elizabeth, it's really none of our business."

A couple of seconds later, Hyacinth folded her arms and gave an annoyed snort, and then she turned around and stomped back into the house while Richard returned to his gardening.

* * *

As soon as Elizabeth arrived at the hospital in London, she was informed by one of the nurses that Gail had been admitted and that they were still running tests. In the meantime, two of Hyacinth's younger sisters, Daisy and Rose, arrived at the hospital as well, along with Daisy's husband Onslow, because the ladies' father had gotten into a bit of an accident.

As it turned out, Rose's latest boyfriend, Jeremy, was quite well-to-do, and he was the owner of an art museum in London. He had a large, upscale, five-bedroom house in London, and he invited Rose and her family to stay with him a while, and to tour his museum. They never actually set a time frame for their stay with Rose's boyfriend, and when they talked to Hyacinth about it, they were smart enough _not_ to mention how well off Jeremy really was, which prevented Hyacinth from trying to push her way into the situation. Rose and Daisy took their elderly father along with them, and as long as they agreed to call Hyacinth regularly and give her updates on their father's condition, she said nothing about their going away. Truth be told, Hyacinth's slovenly, lower-class family embarrassed her, and while she did care for them, she often tried to live her life as though they didn't exist; to Hyacinth, their being out of the picture for a good while was, in fact, a blessing.

And Daisy, Onslow, and Rose considered it an _equal_ blessing to get away from Hyacinth. They'd really been enjoying themselves in London the past couple of days – that is, until their father darted out into the street, chasing after a young woman in a mini-skirt, and got hit by a bicycle! Fortunately, their father and the man on the bicycle both came out of it with just a few scrapes and bruises, and the old man twisted his ankle as well. Given his age, the doctor on call decided to keep him in the hospital overnight for observation just to be safe. After they got him settled in his hospital room that evening, Rose went to the cafeteria with her boyfriend to get something to eat while Daisy went to phone Hyacinth and inform her of what happened to their father. In the meantime, Onslow walked out to the hospital waiting room, and it was then that he spotted Elizabeth, clinging to an old woman, just crying her heart out. To say the least, Onslow was stunned. He'd certainly never expected to see Elizabeth there at the hospital that day, and seeing her in such a shattered emotional state was even more shocking. Sure, Hyacinth made Elizabeth nervous with her intimidating demeanor, but overall, Elizabeth was typically a calm, composed, and happy person. He'd never seen her like this before. He had no idea what was going on with her, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to see that whatever the problem was, it was something devastating. Not knowing what to do, Onslow simply stood there, saying nothing. He wished he could help, but at the same time, he didn't want to intrude on what was clearly a very private moment.

However, a few moments later, the old woman released Elizabeth from her embrace and Elizabeth took out a tissue from her purse to wipe her eyes, and it was then that she glanced around for a second and spotted Onslow. Onslow also made eye contact with Liz, and she quickly wiped her eyes, composed herself, and motioned for Onslow to come over. Elizabeth really wasn't in the mood for chitchatting with her neighbor's brother-in-law right now, but she was basically the most polite person on the planet, and she would never have ignored him.

Reluctantly, Onslow approached the two ladies and sat down beside them. "Hiya, Liz," he said softly. "I can tell someone's having a bad day today."

Elizabeth chuckled and told him, "I can't argue with that."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Liz shook her head and answered, "No, but thank you very much for asking. Is everything alright with you?"

"Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. We're just here in London with my father-in-law, visiting Rose's new boyfriend for a while. My father-in-law had a little accident today; got some bumps and bruises and twisted his ankle. They're keeping him overnight for observation just to be on the safe side, but he's going to be fine."

"I'm glad to hear that," Elizabeth said kindly, and then she turned her head towards her aunt. "I'm sorry, Aunt Maggie. I didn't mean to forget about you. Aunt Maggie, you remember me telling you about my next-door neighbor, Hyacinth?"

"Who could forget?" she teased, and despite her urge to start crying again, Liz smiled.

"Well, this is Hyacinth's brother-in-law, Onslow. Onslow, this is my Aunt Maggie."

They shook hands then and said hello to each other. Afterwards, still dabbing her eyes with the tissue, Elizabeth told Onslow, "You have to excuse me, Onslow. As you said a moment ago, Aunt Maggie and I are having a pretty bad day. It's my daughter, Gail. You see…we just learned that she has leukemia."

"Leukemia?" he gasped, unable to believe his ears.

"Yes," Liz confirmed.

"That's awful. I…I wish I knew what to say. Liz, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"So am I. I wish all this had happened to me instead of my little girl. I wish I could take this for her."

Before Onslow could respond, Daisy and Rose came into the waiting room, and as soon as they saw Onslow sitting with Elizabeth and Maggie, they walked over to them and sat down with them.

Once they were seated, Rose said dreamily, "Jeremy's so romantic. All through our supper in the cafeteria, he just kept gazing into my eyes and telling me how beautiful they are."

"Where's Jeremy now?" asked Daisy.

"He had to go to the men's room," Rose explained. "What did Hyacinth say when you called her?"

"Oh, the usual. She complained that we should have been watching Father more closely. Then she threatened to come here to make sure he was getting proper care. I managed to talk her out of it, thank God. The last thing we need is for the Queen Mother to intrude."

"Amen to that," Onslow agreed.

It was then that Daisy acknowledged Elizabeth and said hello to her, and Rose did the same, and afterwards, Liz introduced them to her aunt. Once all the introductions were made, Daisy asked, "Is everything alright, Liz?"

Before Elizabeth could respond, Onslow answered, "It's her daughter, Gail. She's ill."

"Oh, no. I'm so sorry to hear that Gail is sick," Daisy told her.

"Thank you."

"May I ask how bad it is?" asked Daisy.

"We just found out she has leukemia," Liz replied.

"Leukemia? Oh, no," Rose said sorrowfully.

"That's terrible, Liz. I'm so sorry," said Daisy.

"Try not to worry so much, Liz, even though it's hard," said Onslow. "Why, with all the advances in medicine nowadays, I'm sure there's all kinds of treatment available. And your Gail's a young, strong lass. She'll beat this thing."

"Of course she will," Daisy agreed.

"I know she will," Elizabeth sighed while wiping another stray tear from her right eye. "I know she will."

"And you and I will be right here to help her," Maggie said while affectionately rubbing her niece's back, and Liz responded by taking her hand and giving it a good squeeze.

"Right you are, Aunt Maggie," said Liz, and then everyone remained silent for several long moments. Finally, Liz broke the silence and told them, "I really should be getting back to my daughter, but I know if I go into her hospital room now, I'll just fall apart. You see, everyone, Gail, Aunt Maggie, and I just got the news about fifteen minutes ago. As soon as she heard, Gail asked us all to leave her alone for a few minutes. We didn't want to leave, but Gail insisted. But to be perfectly honest, it's probably a good thing she told us to leave for a little while, because I've just been kicked in the stomach, and I need a chance to catch my breath; to get my bearings. If you all will excuse me, I think I'm going to go for a little walk so I can really pull myself together before I try to go back to Gail's room."

"Of course, love," Onslow said kindly.

Just before Elizabeth was about to get up and walk outside, though, Emmet came in, and the moment she saw her dear younger brother, she didn't even try to maintain her composure. She just got up and ran straight into his arms and held onto him as if he were life raft, all the while Maggie, Daisy, Rose, and even Onslow fought off tears.

* * *

"Leukemia," Daisy sighed. She, Onslow, and Rose were now sitting together at Jeremy's patio table outside, looking out into his beautiful moonlit back garden. It was now nine o'clock in the evening. "You never think things like this will ever happen to you or to someone you know. I can't believe Elizabeth and her daughter are going through this."

"I know," Rose agreed. "I can't believe it either. You want to know something?"

"What?" asked Daisy.

"I'm really ashamed of myself. When I first woke up this morning, all I could think about was what shade of lipstick I should wear that would attract Jeremy the most. Me hair. Me nails. Me makeup. Those were the most important things on my mind today. Blush and eyeshadow and lipstick and clothes. _That_ was all I could think about. Meanwhile, the most important thing on Elizabeth's mind today is trying to help her daughter stay alive."

"I'm just as bad," Onslow admitted. "Before we ran into Liz today, Dais, the thing that was on my mind the most was my fear that somewhere in your heart, you were still a Liverpool supporter. Running into Liz today…finding out about her daughter's diagnosis…it was quite a reality check."

"I'll say," Daisy agreed. "If I were diagnosed with leukemia, naturally, I'd be shocked and scared. But if it were our Stephanie or our Kylie, I'd go out of my mind. I couldn't even begin to take something like that."

"And just think, for the most part, she's all on her own," Rose added. "I mean, sure, she has her brother Emmet and her Aunt Maggie, but her husband's all the way in Saudi Arabia. It's at times like these that a woman really needs the love and support of her husband. And Gail really needs her father as well."

"And to make matters worse, just think about what's waiting for her back home: an encounter with Hurricane Hyacinth," said Onslow. "As if having a child diagnosed with cancer isn't bad enough, she's also going to have to deal with Hyacinth when she returns home from London. It's utterly inhuman."

"It's downright cruel," Rose concurred.

"According to Liz, Gail's going to be in the hospital a good while," said Daisy. "They still have to run more tests to determine what kind of leukemia she has, and who knows what the poor girl will have to face next? Radiation? Chemotherapy? And to think, she's only twenty-one years-old."

"Twenty-one," Onslow gasped while shaking his head.

"She just graduated from college a few weeks ago, and she was planning on starting law school in the fall. She's so young. She's got her whole life stretched out in front of her. It's so unfair," Daisy complained.

"It's heartbreaking," Rose sighed.

"I wish there was something we could do for them," said Daisy. "I wish we could make all of this easier for them somehow. I felt so foolish back at the hospital. All I could do was say, 'I'm sorry; I'm sorry,' over and over again. I doubt that was very much comfort."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Dais," said Onslow. "In situations like these, I don't really think there are any magic words you can say. I think the only thing you can do is just…be there. We don't have all the answers, and I don't believe Liz expects us to. I think Elizabeth and Gail just need good friends right now. People to listen. People to care. And while we're staying here in London, we can do that for them. We can go visit Gail in the hospital, and we can simply let Liz know that we care and that we're there for her."

"You know, Onslow, I don't always give you enough credit. You're really very wise," Rose admitted.

"That's my Onslow. So intelligent," Daisy beamed with pride, and then she leaned over and gave her husband a big kiss.

"That's true," Onslow said with a smug grin.

"While we're at the hospital getting Father discharged, we'll go and spend some time with Gail and Liz," Daisy announced.

"That's a good idea," said Rose. "We may not be able to change Gail's diagnosis, but at least we can be there."

"And besides, I'd much rather spend time with Gail and Liz than trying to track down your father while he's chasing after another mini-skirt!" Onslow kidded, and Daisy responded by giving him a playful punch in the shoulder.

* * *

When Onslow, Daisy, and Rose went to the hospital the next morning to get the ladies' father checked out, they ran into Liz and spent a little time with her, but they didn't see Gail, as she was undergoing several tests that day so that her doctors could get a more precise diagnosis. It wasn't until the following afternoon that they were able to spend more time with Elizabeth and Gail. When Daisy, Onslow, and Rose walked into Gail's hospital room that Friday afternoon, Maggie, Emmet, and Elizabeth were all there with her. Not long after they arrived, Gail's new oncologist, a tall, slim, gray-haired man in his sixties named Dr. Hartman, came into her hospital room to discuss the results. Onslow, Daisy, and Rose offered to leave to give them some privacy, but Gail assured them it was alright to stay.

"Miss Warden–"

"Gail," she interrupted. "Call me Gail."

"Gail, you have a form of leukemia called CML, or chronic myelogenous leukemia. It's actually pretty unusual to see this kind of leukemia in someone so young. We typically see it in middle-aged and older adults."

"Lucky me," Gail joked, and Dr. Hartman responded with a kind smile.

"Okay, Dr. Hartman, where do we go from here?" asked Elizabeth. "What's the next step? How do we go about treating this?"

"We'll give your daughter drugs such as Interferon to stabilize her condition and help keep her white blood cell count under control."

"Will that cure me eventually?" asked Gail, and Dr. Hartman shook his head.

"No. There's only one way to cure CML, and that is through a bone marrow transplant," Dr. Hartman explained.

"Alright then," said Elizabeth. "We'll do the bone marrow transplant. I'll give you all the bone marrow you need."

Again, Dr. Hartman shook his head, and he told Liz, "I'm very sorry, Mrs. Warden, but it doesn't work that way. Your daughter only got half of her genetic material from you, so the most you could possibly be is a fifty-percent match. Gail needs her bone marrow donor to be as close to a one-hundred percent match as possible. The best possible candidates for a match are siblings."

"Gail doesn't have any siblings, doctor," Elizabeth said in a deep, worried tone.

"Are there any cousins, perhaps, who could be tested? It is possible that a cousin could be match, but the chances are much lower for cousins than they are for siblings."

"I don't have any cousins either, Dr. Hartman," Gail told him. "My father is an only child, and my Uncle Emmet doesn't have any children."

"I see. Well, we can test all of your family members just to check and see if any of them might be a match. Beyond that, we'll have to add you to the Bone Marrow Registry here in the U.K., as well as the international registries, and hope we find a match for you through them. But I must warn you that if it comes to that, it will not be easy. Finding an unrelated donor who's a bone marrow match is a lot like finding a needle in a haystack."

"Okay, you're throwing all this information at me all at once. I need a chance to really absorb this. Can we not just take this a little slower?" Gail asked.

"Gail's right," said Elizabeth, who then reached out and took her daughter's hand in hers. "Let's not borrow trouble from the future. Let's just take this whole thing one step at a time. Even though it's not likely that my husband and I will be more than a fifty-percent match, let's test the both of us, just to be sure."

"And me," Emmet added.

"Of course," Dr. Hartman agreed.

"And if, God forbid, we get the results and we find out that none of us are a match, then we'll start worrying about trying to find an unrelated donor," Elizabeth said sensibly.

"Very well, Mrs. Warden. If you'll get in touch with your husband, we can begin testing all of you as soon as next week."

"I'll get on it right away," she assured him. Then after exchanging a bit of small talk, Dr. Hartman said goodbye and left.

* * *

While Rose stayed with Jeremy at his house and tended to her father throughout the following week, Daisy and Onslow dropped back by the hospital, visiting with Gail and being a real source of emotional support for Liz. They brought Liz food and coffee from the hospital cafeteria and ran an occasional errand for her when she needed it, and they were truly as kind, thoughtful, and helpful as they could possibly be. Although Elizabeth certainly wasn't a fan of all their sloppiness, she realized in that time what genuinely caring and empathetic people Hyacinth's sisters and brother-in-law were, and both she and Gail really came to appreciate their presence over the next several days.

That following Friday, one week after Dr. Hartman's discussion with everyone about Gail's diagnosis, Jeremy suggested that Rose invite Elizabeth over that afternoon for tea, and so she did. And mercifully, tea with Rose and Daisy at Jeremy's house was far less stressful than high tea and coffee sessions with Hyacinth!

"How's it going, love?" Daisy asked Liz sympathetically. The three ladies were out on Jeremy's back patio, enjoying their tea amidst lovely summer scenery of his garden.

"Yes, how are you and Gail holding up?" asked Rose.

"Oh, our Gail's a trouper. Finding out about the leukemia was a very hard blow, but she's determined not to let her diagnosis get her down. She's even insisting on starting law school in the fall, like she originally planned."

"That's terrific," said Daisy.

"It sure is," Rose agreed. "Good for Gail."

"I know you must be very proud, Liz."

"Oh, absolutely. I couldn't be any prouder of her. Emotionally speaking, she's handling this whole thing far better than I would if I were in her shoes. And physically speaking, she's doing well in that area, too. Dr. Hartman says he thinks she'll be stable enough to go home in a couple of days."

"That's wonderful news," said Rose.

"Yes, it is. And I'm so grateful for my Aunt Maggie. It's such a relief to know that whenever I can't be here with Gail in London, she'll be there keeping an eye on her for me. She's been such a lifesaver throughout this whole thing. I don't know what I would have done without her."

"Rose and I had a good talk with your Aunt Maggie the other day. It's obvious you think the world of her, and after getting to know her a little bit, I can see why. She's a very sweet lady."

"That she is, Daisy. That she is. And as I said, I'm very grateful for her, and for my daughter's strong, fighting spirit. That's basically the way I stay sane through all of this: I find things to be thankful for amidst all the pain, emotional roller coaster rides, and insanity."

"You know, it may help to talk about all the pain, emotional roller coaster rides, and insanity," Daisy told her kindly. "It's not a very good idea to keep everything bottled up all the time."

"Oh, you don't want to hear about all my family drama," Liz said dismissively with a wave of her hand.

"It beats the heck out of listening to Rose's drama," Daisy teased.

"Thanks a lot, Dais," Rose grumbled.

"I'm just telling it like it is, Rose. Anyway Liz, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. But if you ever do need to talk, we're here."

"You're very kind, Daisy. Both of you are, and so is Onslow. You've all been so incredible through this whole thing. So thoughtful."

"Considering the fact that you've put up with so much rubbish from our Hyacinth all these years, it's the least we can do!" Rose quipped, and they all chuckled a bit.

Liz then sighed and asked, "Do you know what the hardest part of all this has been?"

"What's that?" asked Daisy.

"The questions. All the questions that swirl around in my head as I lie awake in bed every night."

"Such as?" said Rose.

"What if we can't find a donor in time? Dr. Hartford told me that if Gail didn't get a bone marrow transplant, she only had one to three years to live; five years at best."

"Oh, no," Daisy gasped.

"And we just found out earlier this week that no one in our family is a compatible match for Gail. I was tested. Emmet was tested. Even Aunt Maggie was tested. And my husband went to his doctor in Saudi Arabia and got tested as well, and he wasn't compatible either. So we got Gail registered with the national and international bone marrow registries, and now, the only thing we can do is just wait and hope and pray that they come up with a compatible donor for her."

"Ah gee Liz, that's rough," Rose said sadly.

"And when I lay awake at night, it's all I can think about. I keep asking myself if there's something, _anything_ I can do while we wait for a match, and so far, I can't think of anything, and that drives me crazy. What's harder still is wondering if any of this is somehow my fault. I ask myself, 'Did this happen to Gail because I did something wrong when I was pregnant with her?' I ask myself, 'Did this happen because of all the emotional pain and stress it caused her never having her father around?' You know they say that stress can have an adverse effect on your physical health. And if it did happen because Frank was never there, then I ask, 'Was there something more I could have done to keep him in Gail's life? Was it my fault Frank accepted that job promotion and left us for Saudi Arabia nine years ago?'"

"Now don't you go blaming yourself, love," said Onslow as he came out to the patio and pulled up a chair at the table. Clearly, he'd overheard the last bit of their conversation. "There are some things in life that are just out of our control."

Daisy then put her hands on top of Elizabeth's and told her, "Onslow's right, Liz. In this world, people get sick all the time, and it's not because of anything that anybody did or didn't do. It just happens. And besides, if it wasn't for you, loving Gail and supporting her and believing in her, it would be so much harder for her to get through this. But having such a wonderful mother like you in her life makes it all a whole lot easier. She's really very fortunate to have you."

Rose put her hands on top of theirs then and said, "Daisy's right. When our mum was alive, nothing was more important to her than booze, and I mean absolutely _nothing._ Not even us. We would've killed for a mum as warm and gentle and loving as you always are with your Gail."

In that moment, Elizabeth gave Daisy's and Rose's hands a good squeeze, and then she quickly wiped a couple of stray tears from her eyes. "You know something? Hyacinth really doesn't give you all enough credit. You people are terrific. You really are. You've all been right there for Gail and me through this whole thing. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Like I said a couple of minutes ago, given all you put up with from our Hyacinth, it's the least we can do," Rose said with a warm smile.

"Don't you worry, Liz," Onslow said kindly. "We'll get through this thing. You'll see. This is all going to work out."

"Thank you, Onslow," Liz responded. "You are right, of course. We _will_ get through this. I believe that with all my heart. _I have_ to believe it."

Once again, Daisy and Rose took Elizabeth's hands, and Elizabeth clung to their hands – to their friendship – like a lifeline. And in fact, their friendship truly had become a lifeline for her soul. Up until now, Daisy, Onslow, and Rose had been mere acquaintances to Elizabeth and not friends. But after the way they had been there for her over the past nine days, that had officially changed, and now, she honestly didn't know what she would do without them.


	3. Elizabeth's Decision

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 3: Elizabeth's Decision**

Over the next two months after Gail came home from the hospital, things changed a great deal for Elizabeth. Her Aunt Maggie invited her to stay with her in London for as long as she wanted to so she could keep an eye on Gail, and it was an offer Elizabeth gratefully accepted. Naturally, she wanted to spend as much time with her daughter as possible, and furthermore, staying in London gave her a much-needed break from Hyacinth. Understandably, Elizabeth now needed to focus as much of her energy as possible on taking care of Gail, and the _last_ thing she needed was to have to worry about dealing with Hyacinth.

After Liz had been in London with Gail for three weeks, word of Gail's diagnosis finally reached the vicar and his wife and most of their parish. Mercifully, everybody understood how important it was for Liz and Gail to be spared the nerve-racking experience of Hurricane Hyacinth in a time like this, and they all made absolutely certain to keep everything a secret from "The Bucket Woman." However, that's not to say that Hyacinth didn't suspect that something was up and that she didn't _desperately_ try to find out what it was, because she absolutely did. She certainly drove Emmet up the wall, but no matter how much or how hard she pressed him for details, he utterly refused to give an inch. He might have been more weak-willed in the past, but knowing what his sister was going through now, he remained strong. He did give Hyacinth very vague details, telling her that Elizabeth would be staying out of town for a while with relatives, but he told her nothing beyond that, and to be honest, it drove her crazy. But no matter how hard Hyacinth tried to find out more about what was really going on with Elizabeth, Emmet, the vicar, the vicar's wife, and everybody throughout the parish who was aware of the truth remained fiercely tight-lipped for Elizabeth's sake.

It was seven weeks after Elizabeth left for London that the vicar and his wife and almost everyone in their parish (with the exception of Hyacinth and Richard) came to London to participate in a bone marrow donor drive for Gail that was being hosted by her Aunt Maggie's church. Over a hundred people got tested that day, including Onslow, Daisy, Rose, and Rose's boyfriend Jeremy, which really touched Elizabeth's and Gail's hearts. Elizabeth spent much of the following week sending out thank-you cards to everyone who came to the drive to be tested, and whenever Gail wasn't in class or busy studying, she helped her.

Finally, on a cold, rainy Monday morning, the moment of truth arrived. Maggie had gone out to do a little shopping and Gail had left for class, so Elizabeth had the house all to herself when the phone rang. Sadly, Dr. Hartman informed her that none of the people who were tested at the drive a week ago were a compatible match for Gail, and after Elizabeth hung up the phone, she just collapsed onto the settee and cried her heart out.

* * *

It was six o'clock that evening when Elizabeth called her husband Frank in Saudi Arabia. The skies were now black with dark storm clouds, rain was pouring down, and thunder was crashing. Perhaps it was a bad omen, but Elizabeth didn't care. She knew what kind of reception she would probably get from Frank about this. She knew he probably wouldn't be very supportive. But she _also_ knew that Gail didn't have a lot of time, and even if Frank wasn't wild about her idea, Elizabeth _knew_ that _something_ had to be done. Gail couldn't wait forever.

"Hello, Frank," Elizabeth sighed into the telephone.

"Uh oh. Let me guess. More bad news?"

"I'm afraid so. I spoke with Dr. Hartman today. No one from the donor drive was a match."

Frank let out a long, defeated sigh. But then, trying to be as optimistic as possible, he told Liz, "There'll be other drives. Hang in there, Elizabeth. We'll find a match for our Gail one of these days."

"Frank, I've been thinking very long and very hard about something. Now I want you to listen to me, and I want you to hear me out."

"Alright. I'm listening."

"You know that Dr. Hartman has said that if Gail doesn't receive the bone marrow transplant she needs, she only has one to three years to live. Maybe five years, if she's really fortunate."

"Of course I know that. That's all I ever think about, Liz."

"My point is, we cannot just sit on our behinds and wait around forever. Gail doesn't have very much time, and the clock _is_ ticking, Frank. We're her parents, and we have to do something."

"We've gotten her registered with the national and international bone marrow registries, and I've seen to it that she's receiving the best possible medical care that money can buy. What more can we possibly do?"

Liz then stared out the window of her Aunt Maggie's guest room, carefully observing the droplets of rain crashing against the glass for several long moments, and finally, she asked, "Do you remember back when we decided to try for another baby? Remember when we went to that fertility clinic here in London?"

"How could I forget? We both went through so much. All those treatments and medications. All those IVF cycles. Those medications you were on really threw your hormones out of whack. You were so emotional. You were breaking down into tears over every little thing."

"Yes, I think we can agree that it was a very trying time for both of us," Liz said coolly. Even though it had been so many years, Frank's insensitivity still stung. Yes, Elizabeth _had_ been very emotional while she was going through all those in vitro fertilization cycles, but during that time, _Frank_ had been about as sensitive to her needs as sandpaper. "Well," she continued a moment later, "I'm sure you recall the fact that when we decided to give up trying for another baby, we still had several embryos that we left frozen."

"What are you trying to say, Elizabeth?" Frank asked rather impatiently.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, let out a long sigh, and boldly told her husband, "I'm trying to say that I think I should go back to the clinic and try for another pregnancy with our frozen embryos."

"What?" he said with a surprised laugh, unable to believe his ears. "That's ridiculous."

"Just hear me out, Frank. Dr. Hartman said that there's a twenty-five percent chance that a full-blooded sibling would be a match for Gail. He _also_ said that the odds of finding an unrelated donor for her are like finding a needle in a haystack. I know a twenty-five percent chance isn't a very good chance, but at this point, I think it's the _best_ possible chance we can give our daughter."

"Elizabeth, you're getting carried away by your emotions."

"How can I _not_ 'get carried away by my emotions,' Frank?! Our daughter has _cancer_ for heaven's sake! Our little girl could _die_!"

"Alright, Elizabeth, calm down," he said dismissively, much like a parent speaking to an overreactive five-year-old, which _really_ made Elizabeth's blood boil inside. "It's not as if Gail's on her deathbed. We still have plenty of time to find a match for her."

"Yes, but what if we don't?" Elizabeth asked with tears streaming down her face. "Frank, we have an opportunity now to do something to provide a match for Gail. We can't waste it. We can't just sit around over the next three or four or five years and do nothing, just hoping for a miracle donor that may never come. She's our _child_ , Frank. We owe it to her to give her every possible chance at life we can."

"I understand what you're saying, but what about you? What about me? We've already gotten one child all grown up and graduated from college. I really _don't_ want to start all over again, Liz. Not at this stage in my life. I like my life the way it is. I don't want to come back home from Saudi Arabia to _another_ child that needs raising, and I cannot believe that's what you would want, either. Just think about it. You're over fifty years-old. It would be a very risky pregnancy. And if, by some miracle, you have a successful pregnancy and give birth to another baby, just think of it. By the time you'll be fifty-five, you'll be trying to keep up with a two-year-old. By the time you're in your seventies, this child will be in his twenties. How will it make you feel when you're seventy-five, sitting in a retirement home someplace, and you're visited by your twenty-something-year-old son or daughter? How will that make our child feel? You have to face facts, Elizabeth. You and I are simply too old to be parents again."

Furious, Elizabeth responded by yelling, "Franklin Edward Warden, sometimes you have more nerve than a rotting tooth! You say you don't want to come home from Saudi Arabia to another child that needs raising, but ever since Gail was twelve years-old, you never lifted a finger to help me raise her! Sure, you provided for us financially, but in all these years, you've barely spent more than sixty seconds with your own daughter! _I_ was the one who was always there for her! _I_ was the one who was there for every piano recital, every ballet recital, every school debate, every science fair. _I_ was the one who was there to listen to her every time she had a problem. _I_ was the one who was there when she had her first crush and her first kiss. _I_ was the one who was there every time she caught a cold or the flu. You couldn't even be bothered to take a little vacation time and come over for your own daughter's college graduation, nor could you be bothered to come and be here for her when she was diagnosed with cancer, so don't you _dare_ come at me with the argument that someday, you're going to come home from Saudi Arabia and when you do, you don't want to come home to another child! You're off living your own life in Saudi Arabia, doing your own thing, without all the mental and emotional responsibilities that go along with being a husband and a father, _and you like it that way._ We both know you're not ever going to come home and face the music about Gail, or about us.

"And as for me, yes, I am perfectly aware of the fact that it is unusual for a woman my age to have a child. I won't try to pretend that I don't have my concerns. I most certainly do. But even though this old body of mine does have some miles on it, I have taken very good care of it all these years, and if I didn't truly believe I was healthy enough and strong enough to be a good mother to another child, I wouldn't even consider the possibility. But I've got it in me, Frank. I know I do. I know I can do this. I know I can at least _try_ to provide Gail with the bone marrow transplant she needs to stay alive. And I know that if I do succeed in bringing another child into this world, I can and _I will_ love and care for that child with all I've got in me and give it a good life."

After a long silence, finally, Frank said, "You do seem to have your mind made up."

"It is made up, Frank. This is my baby girl we're talking about. There's nothing I won't do to save her life."

"So when were you planning on going to speak to a specialist at the fertility clinic?"

"I was going to call and make an appointment tomorrow morning."

Again, Frank remained silent for several long moments. Eventually, he told Liz, "Keep in touch. Let me know what the clinic says."

"I will."

"Talk to you later."

"Goodbye, Frank," Elizabeth said quietly, and then she hung up the phone.

In the next moment, she turned around…and saw Gail standing in the doorway.

* * *

"Mum, with all due respect, have you lost your mind? It is way too risky to have a baby at your age," said Gail, who had been listening in on her mother's entire conversation with her father.

"I know there are risks involved, Gail. But there comes a point in your life when you just have to take a few risks and let the chips fall where they may."

"It's bad enough that I have cancer. I don't want anything going wrong with your health, too."

Elizabeth smiled, hugged her daughter, and assured her, "Nothing is going to go wrong with my health, love. I'll be fine. I promise you."

"Mum, I really don't think it's worth the risk. Even if you beat all the odds and manage to get pregnant again at your age, there's only a twenty-five percent chance that the baby will be a match for me. And besides, this is supposed to be the time in your life when you're able to kick back and relax. You don't really want to spend your sunset years chasing after a little kid, do you?"

Elizabeth put her hands on hips then and pretended to be offended, and she said, "My sunset years?! Young lady, I will have you know that I am nowhere near my sunset years. Why, I'm right in the middle of my afternoon years, thank you very much."

"You know what I mean."

"To answer your question, it is true that I never imagined I would be raising another child at this point in my life. _However_ , it is _also_ true that there is nothing in this world I love more than being a mother – being _your_ mother. I've told you before, Gail, how I dreamed all my life of having a whole houseful of children, and how your father and I tried for so many years before we finally got pregnant with you. I've always said that you were our miracle baby. And if Jesus hears my prayers and decides to grant me another little miracle, I will be overjoyed to spend my 'sunset years' chasing after him. Or her."

Doubtful, Gail shook her head and said, "Mum, if something happened to you, I'd never forgive myself."

"My dear, this isn't anything that _you_ personally are responsible for. This is _my_ choice, not yours."

"I don't understand why _you_ would have to put your body through pregnancy and childbirth, though. Why don't you just try to find a surrogate?"

"Your father and I have always had enough money to pay for IVF cycles, but we've never had enough money to pay for both IVF cycles _and_ a surrogate at the same time. No, if any of our frozen embryos are going to be carried to term, _I'm_ going to have to be the one to do it. Financially, there's just no other option."

Gail remained silent for a little bit, and then finally, she told her mother, "I know it's your life and your decision, Mum, but I still don't like it. I don't want you to put yourself through something as traumatic as childbirth. Not for me."

Liz gazed lovingly at her daughter, put her hands on her shoulders, and told her, "I'm doing it for _me_ , Gail, because I love you so much."

All choked up, Gail said softly, "I guess I really am the luckiest daughter in the world to have a mother who loves me enough to do something like this."

"I won't argue with that," Liz teased, and then the mother and daughter laughed and smiled.

* * *

"Oh Emmet, please spare me," Elizabeth said with an exasperated sigh the following afternoon when her brother came over to visit. "You're as bad as Gail, and you're almost as bad as Frank. Yes, I've heard all the arguments. I'm too old. It's too risky. I wouldn't be able to keep up with a little one at my age. It would be embarrassing for the child to have such an old mother. I've heard it all."

"How about this argument? You've got a daughter – _and a brother_ – who love you dearly; who would be devastated if anything happened to you."

"Oh, Emmet," Liz said softly.

"Now isn't the time to be taking a bunch of reckless chances with your health, Liz. If something went wrong and, God forbid, we lost you, what do you think that would do to Gail?"

"You and Gail aren't going to lose me, Emmet," Elizabeth insisted. "I'm not going anywhere."

"If you start trying to get pregnant again, you'll be playing Russian roulette with your health, and you know it! You suffered two miscarriages before you finally had Gail, and then when you and Frank went to that fertility clinic and started trying again, you got pregnant two more times and had two more miscarriages. And if you will recall, I was there when you lost your last baby. Jackie and I were over at your house, visiting you and Frank and Gail during the Christmas holidays. It was four days to Christmas Day. Gail was out at a sleepover at a friend's house. Frank was in his study working, as usual. Jackie was upstairs in the guest room, and I was with you in the dining room. I was helping you set the table for supper when all of the sudden, you just doubled over. You were in _agony_ , Liz. And there was blood everywhere. I never saw so much blood in all my life. I thought you were going to _die_ , Elizabeth. I was certain I was going to lose you. And now, here you are at age fifty-three, talking about taking the risk of putting your body through yet _another_ miscarriage. If, God forbid, you got pregnant again and you lost yet another baby, do you _really_ believe you would survive that? And I don't just mean physically. I mean emotionally. I know how all your other miscarriages have scarred you in the past. Why on earth would you want to risk putting your body and your soul through something so terrible yet again?"

"Because I know that if I don't at least _try_ to come through with another sibling for Gail, five years from now, she will most likely be dead. Emmet, try and put yourself in my place for just a moment. I know how Jackie shattered your heart when she decided to get that abortion. I know how much you've always yearned to be a father, and I know that after she made the selfish, vicious decision to kill your baby in the womb, you were never the same. Just imagine for one moment that Jackie hadn't murdered your baby. Just imagine that your baby had grown up to be Gail's age, and had graduated from college, and then out the blue, you learned that he had a heart condition and needed a heart transplant. Can you honestly stand there and tell me that you wouldn't take your own life and give your child your heart so that he could survive? I know you, Emmet. I know that if you'd been able to have your child, you would gladly die a thousand deaths if you had to in order to save his life."

It was plain to see that Elizabeth had struck a nerve. In the next moment, Emmet said in a very quiet voice, "You're right, sis. If my child had lived to be Gail's age, and he suddenly became ill, there isn't anything I wouldn't do to save him."

"Maybe I am playing Russian roulette with my physical and emotional health, but you have to understand, Emmet, that my child's _life_ is at stake. I have _got_ to do everything within my power to give her every possible chance at life that I can give her."

"I understand," Emmet said in an emotional whisper, fighting off tears. "I don't like it, Liz. But I understand."

Elizabeth then approached her younger brother, touched his arm, and said, "I need you to support me on this."

Emmet let out a long sigh, and at last, he nodded. In the next moment, he pulled his sister into his arms, gave her a warm hug, and kissed the top of her head.

* * *

One week later, Onslow and Daisy popped by to pay Elizabeth and Gail a visit. They sat down together for a while and had a good chat, along with Elizabeth's Aunt Maggie, and then Maggie invited them to stay for supper. After they ate, Maggie retired to her room to finish a novel she'd been reading, and Gail went to the guest room to catch up on some studying. Once Liz was alone with Daisy and Onslow, she made the suggestion that they take a stroll through her Aunt Maggie's back garden, and they obliged.

"I was so sorry to hear that nobody was a match, Liz," Onslow told her regretfully.

"So was I," Elizabeth sighed. "But I cannot thank you all enough for getting tested. I want you to know that that meant so very much to Gail and me."

"It was our pleasure, Liz," Daisy assured her. "I just hate it so much that none of us were a compatible match for your Gail."

"It was still very kind of all of you to get tested, and I appreciate it so much. I want you to know that."

"It was no problem," said Onslow. "I know if it were our Stephanie going through this, we'd want as many people as possible to get tested, too."

"That's right," Daisy agreed.

"I heard that even Hyacinth got tested at the second bone marrow donor drive that the vicar held in our church back home last weekend," said Elizabeth.

"She did," Onslow confirmed. "The vicar was very careful not to ever have yours or Gail's names mentioned at the drive. We all know how important it is for Hyacinth not to find out."

"Exactly," Daisy concurred. "We know that having Hyacinth hanging around here, sticking her nose into your affairs and driving you up the wall, is the last thing on earth that you and your daughter need right now."

"Hyacinth has been my next-door neighbor and my friend for a long time now, and as difficult as she makes it, I do love her. However, you're absolutely right, Daisy. Love her as I may, Hyacinth coming here and stressing me to the max like she always does is really the last thing I need now, and it's certainly the last thing that Gail needs, so I am very grateful to the vicar for keeping our secret."

"As would be expected, when Hyacinth agreed to get tested – and dragged Richard into it in the process – she couldn't stop bragging about it to every other person she came into contact with. She kept going on about how 'it's not everybody who would agree to be tested to donate bone marrow to a total stranger' and how 'it takes a special kind of generosity to do what she and Richard did,'" said Daisy with a roll of her eyes, and Elizabeth chuckled.

"That sounds like Hyacinth alright. She'll do anything in the world to try to raise her social standing in the sight of others," Liz said honestly. "But regardless of her motives, I greatly appreciate her and Richard getting tested as well."

"I hate it so badly that nobody at the second donor drive was a match either," said Daisy. "I know that had to be a hard blow for you and Gail."

"Yes, when Dr. Hartman called the house a couple of days ago and told Gail, she and I were pretty disappointed," Liz admitted.

"You hang in there, Liz. One day, we'll find a match for your Gail," said Onslow.

Over the next couple of moments, Liz thought about it, and she decided it would be okay to tell Onslow and Daisy about her plans. They'd been walking side by side together through Maggie's garden, and now, Liz stopped and turned to face them.

"Actually, there's something that I'm going to be trying in the near future," she told Onslow and Daisy.

"What's that?" Daisy inquired.

"I guess it's best if I start at the beginning. Frank and I tried for so many years to get pregnant before we finally had our Gail. It was not at all easy for us to have a baby, and that's an understatement. And when Gail was ten years-old, we decided that we wanted to try to have another baby. However, I was in my forties then, and given my age, it was obvious that it was going to be terribly difficult for us to conceive again, so we went to a fertility clinic here in London for help. We went through several in vitro fertilization cycles, and I actually did get pregnant again – twice – but I lost both babies. We still had several frozen embryos left over that we never used, and after I lost my last baby, Frank and I decided it was best to just leave things alone. But our embryos are still there, still frozen in storage. And the reason I'm bringing that up is because Dr. Hartman has told me that a full-blooded sibling would have a twenty-five percent chance of being a match for my Gail. I know a twenty-five percent chance isn't a big chance, but at the same time, the odds of a full-blooded sibling being compatible are much greater than the odds of an unrelated person being compatible."

"So you're going to try to get pregnant again with one of your frozen embryos in the hopes that the baby will be a match for Gail?" asked Daisy.

"Yes. But just for the record, I want to say that I do _not_ want to bring a child into the world just so I can use him for a self-serving agenda. If I manage to get pregnant again and I'm blessed enough to carry another baby to term, and if that baby is not a match for Gail, I'll be devastated that I wasn't able to help her, but I will _not_ love my baby any less. No matter what happens, I am going to cherish this little one just as I have always cherished my Gail."

"Is your husband coming home from Saudi Arabia to be with you through all this?" asked Onslow.

Elizabeth shook her head in response and answered, "No. Frank is staying where he is."

"Does he support you going through with this?" asked Daisy.

Liz sighed and responded, "He made it quite clear when I talked to him on the phone about it that he wants no part of raising another child. He does love Gail and he wants to do whatever's necessary to save her life, so if I do succeed in having another baby, he is going to provide for it financially, just as he's always done for me and for Gail. But everything else that's involved in raising a child, mentally and emotionally speaking, is going to be left up to me. I don't mind, though. That's how it was with me and Gail, ever since Frank left us for Saudi Arabia when Gail was twelve, so I'm used to it. I'm not happy about raising another child without a father, but under these circumstances, I feel I don't have much choice. And I know that even though it's not an ideal situation, I can do this if I have to."

"When are you planning on going back to this fertility clinic?" asked Onslow.

"I went there earlier this week, as a matter of fact, and I spoke to one of the doctors there, Dr. Grace Hill. Believe it or not, Dr. Hill and I grew up in the same neighborhood together when we were kids. We went to the same school together and everything. She actually went on to become an OB/GYN, and now, she's one of the doctors working at the fertility clinic. On Monday, she's going to start me on medications that will begin to prepare my body for another pregnancy."

"So despite all the risks of attempting a pregnancy at your age, and despite the fact that if you do have another baby, you'll be raising it alone, you're still going to go through with this to try and help your daughter?" Daisy inquired.

"Yes," Liz told her truthfully.

"You know something, Elizabeth? I think you're the bravest woman alive," Daisy said with obvious admiration.

"And I second that," Onslow agreed. "It's no ordinary person who could do something like this, especially all on her own. I think it's incredible what you're trying to do for your daughter."

"Thank you," Elizabeth said with a smile. "Thank you both so much. You know what the hardest part has been about all this?"

"What?" asked Daisy.

"The lack of understanding and support from everyone. Of course, I wasn't exactly surprised at how my husband reacted. I knew Frank wasn't going to be happy about it. But if would have been nice if Gail and Emmet would have been more supportive. They're worried about the potential risks to my health, and I do appreciate their concern, but still, it would have been nice if just once, one of them would have put their arm around me and said, 'I believe in you. You can do this.'"

Without missing a beat, Daisy put her arm around Elizabeth's shoulders, looked her straight in the eye, and told her, "I believe in you, Liz. You can do this."

"And I believe in you too," Onslow added.

Elizabeth laughed and said, "Thank you. Thank you both so much. You know, if you hadn't been here with us all this time, visiting us, encouraging us, I don't know what Gail and I would have done. I don't think we could have ever hoped for more thoughtful friends."

"We wanted to be here. Right, Onslow?"

"Of course. Just think: if we hadn't been able to stay here in London with Rose and her boyfriend and be near you and Gail all this time, we would've been stuck back home with Hyacinth!"

Liz laughed again and said, "Yes, I do believe you all got the better end of that deal."

"Well, not for too much longer, I'm afraid. Rose and Jeremy have been fighting an awful lot here lately. I don't think this thing with Jeremy is going to last too much longer. We'll probably have to go back home soon," Daisy warned.

"It's a miracle Rose has managed to hold onto him this long," Onslow commented. "She's been with this Jeremy fellow for over two months now. For Rose, that's a new record!"

"Well, if you do end up having to go back home in the near future, I'll really miss you, and so will Gail."

"We'll miss you too, love," Daisy said warmly.

"Speaking of going home, how much longer do you expect you'll be staying in London?" Onslow questioned.

"I can't say for certain. It depends on a number of different things. If Gail's condition remains stable and she continues to do as well as she has been these past several weeks, and _if_ I get a miracle and get pregnant soon, and _if_ the pregnancy goes well, then I'll consider coming back home. But we'll just have to wait and see."

"I understand," said Daisy. "And don't worry. If we return home before you do, which is a very likely possibility, I promise we won't utter a word of any of this to Hyacinth."

"I appreciate that," said Liz. "I really do."

Then after the usual pleasantries and goodbyes were exchanged, Onslow and Daisy left. Once they were gone, she returned to her Aunt Maggie's back garden, looked up at the stars, and said a fervent prayer inside.

* * *

Onslow's and Daisy's prediction was spot-on, and two days later, Rose and Jeremy officially broke up, and they and their father had to return home. In the meantime, Liz got started taking medications and injections that would prepare her uterus for pregnancy. A few weeks later, Dr. Hill determined that her uterus was in optimal condition for the frozen embryo transfer. Elizabeth's Aunt Maggie, who eventually came around to supporting her in her efforts, went with her to the clinic on the day that two of her five frozen embryos were transferred into her uterus. Over the following two weeks, Elizabeth followed Dr. Hill's advice and tried very hard to get as much rest and relaxation as she could, but it truly was impossible for her nerves to _not_ be on edge as she anxiously waited to have her blood tested to see if she was, in fact, pregnant.

Finally, the day after she'd gone into the clinic for her blood test, the phone rang at half past one in the afternoon, and Elizabeth's heart started pounding in her chest. Gail was in class, and it was just Elizabeth and Maggie at the house.

"Do you want me to get it, dear?" Maggie asked her niece kindly, but Elizabeth shook her head.

"No. Thank you, Aunt Maggie, but I'm the one who has to face up to this, even though it's hard," Liz told her after the phone had already rung twice. On the third ring, Elizabeth took a deep breath, and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" she choked out in barely a whisper.

"Is this Mrs. Warden?" asked a young lady on the other end, one of the nurses at the fertility clinic.

"Yes," Elizabeth said nervously.

It was then that the young nurse spoke five unforgettable, life-changing words: "Congratulations, Mrs. Warden. You're pregnant."


	4. Water and Oxygen

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 4: Water and Oxygen**

"Come on, Grace. You've got to admit that the ethics of this whole thing _are_ shady," Dr. Hartman complained to Dr. Hill, standing with her in a hospital corridor as they were both doing their rounds. "Is it truly right to try and conceive a child just in the hopes that that child can be used as a bone marrow donor for a sibling?"

"Well, if you want to get technical, the child Elizabeth is carrying now was technically conceived by IVF many years ago," Dr. Hill, a tall, slim, middle-aged redhead, responded.

"You know what I mean. Just think about it, Grace. She's fifty-three years-old. She's all on her own. Her husband's off in Saudi Arabia, and he has no intention of coming back to England to be a source of help and support for her. She's already suffered four miscarriages. _Four._ And even if she didn't have a history of so many miscarriages, this is still a very high-risk pregnancy. Most fertility specialists here in the U.K. refuse to attempt achieving a pregnancy in a woman over fifty, and they refuse _for a reason._ "

"I'm aware of everything you're saying, Lance. I know that in a nutshell, poor Elizabeth is walking through a minefield with this baby, and it'll be a miracle if they both come out of it whole. But even though her husband's staying in Saudi Arabia, Elizabeth's not entirely on her own. She has her Aunt Maggie, whom she's staying with at the moment, and she also has her brother Emmet. They have both made it clear that no matter what happens with Elizabeth and her baby, they're going to be there for them.

"And as for Elizabeth's motives for having this baby now, yes, it is true that the reason she's even attempting this at all is for Gail's sake. However, I am thoroughly, one hundred percent convinced that even if this baby is not a match for Gail, Elizabeth is still going to love it and care for it with all she's got in her. I grew up with Elizabeth, Lance. I know her. She is literally the gentlest, most patient person I've ever met. And there is no way I would have supported this and agreed to bend the rules at our clinic for her if I weren't thoroughly convinced that this baby was going to be loved."

After a long, thoughtful pause, Dr. Hartman looked his friend and colleague in the eye and told her, "Well Grace, that's good enough for me. If you are that certain about it, I will support Mrs. Warden in this."

Dr. Hill smiled, and Dr. Hartman patted her on the back, and then the two doctors got back to their rounds.

* * *

The next morning, exactly five weeks after the embryo transfer was performed, Elizabeth's eyes remained glued to the screen as she laid flat on her back on the exam table during her first ultrasound. Elizabeth's daughter Gail and her Aunt Maggie had accompanied her to Dr. Hill's office at the fertility clinic, and as soon as she began performing the ultrasound, all three ladies gazed intently at the tiny life taking shape on the screen in front of them.

"As you know, Elizabeth, we transferred two of the five frozen embryos left over from all your previous IVF cycles. And it appears that of the two embryos that we thawed and transferred into your uterus, only one has successfully implanted," Dr. Hill announced.

"One is plenty," Liz said with a chuckle.

"It is very early in the pregnancy, but as of right now, I can give you some good news. Everything appears perfectly normal. The baby appears to be developing just as it should be."

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief, and then she said with a big smile, "That's wonderful news."

While Dr. Hill turned off the screen and a nurse took a towel and wiped the ultrasound gel off Elizabeth's lower abdomen, Maggie commented, "Looks like we're going to have to start setting up a nursery soon."

Elizabeth then pulled down the white blouse she was wearing, sat up on the exam table, and told her Aunt Maggie, "I really do appreciate the thought, but given all my previous miscarriages, I think it's best to play it safe. I'd much rather wait a good long while until I'm certain this baby is out of the woods before I start thinking about setting up a nursery."

"I understand," Maggie said sympathetically.

"I won't lie. I'd really love to go baby shopping with you, Mum, but I understand why you'd rather wait a while first."

"No worries, Gail," Liz said as she got down from the exam table. "I assure you, we have more than enough time to make plans before this little one gets here."

"You're absolutely right, Elizabeth," Dr. Hill agreed. "You have plenty of time to get ready for the baby. Just take your time. Ease your way into it all."

"Thank you, Dr. Hill. I think I will," said Elizabeth. Then after all the ladies had a couple of minutes of small talk, Elizabeth, Gail, and Maggie left Dr. Hill's office.

* * *

"I know it's strange, but according to Dr. Hill, I'm actually considered to be nine weeks pregnant now, even though the frozen embryo transfer was performed only seven weeks ago," Elizabeth explained to the vicar and his wife two weeks later, who had come to London on a Saturday afternoon to pay her a visit. They were all sitting together on the large settee in Maggie's lounge, enjoying a cup of herbal, non-caffeinated tea, which was obviously safer for Elizabeth to drink.

"I'll admit that the whole thing about a pregnancy lasting forty weeks has always confused me," the vicar admitted. "People always say that pregnancies are supposed to last nine months, when in reality, it seems to be ten."

"It often can get confusing," the vicar's wife Rachel said.

"Well anyway, we're so happy to hear that everything appears to be going well for you and the baby so far, Elizabeth," said Michael.

"Yes, indeed we are," Rachel agreed. "Ever since we learned what you were doing to try and provide a match for your daughter, Michael and I have been praying a great deal for you."

"I thank you both for that. Very much."

"Of course," said Michael, and then everyone was silent for several long moments.

Finally, Elizabeth looked the young couple in the eye and asked them, "Michael…Rachel…what do the two of you _really_ think about what I'm doing? Please don't be afraid to be completely honest. Tell me the truth. I mean, I know that I'm an older woman, planning on bringing a baby into the world who, most likely, will never really know his own father. And even though I've put on this brave face of confidence for everybody else, acting so certain that I can raise another child on my own, I still feel awful about the prospect of raising another child without a father. I've always firmly believed, especially as a Christian, that a child ought to be raised in a household with both a mother and a father. Sometimes, my conscience really berates me for what I'm doing; tells me I'm being selfish; that I'm not considering what's best for this child. Mercifully, my Gail turned out quite well, but at the same time, I'm painfully aware of how badly it's hurt her never having her father in her life all these years. And now, here I am getting ready to put another child through the same hurtful ordeal."

Michael and Rachel looked at each other for a couple of moments, and at last, the young vicar looked over at Elizabeth and told her truthfully, "Liz, in a nutshell, I think that you are doing the best you possibly can in a very tough and very unfair situation."

"Exactly," Rachel agreed.

"You're absolutely right that children do need both a mother and a father. There are plenty of single parents out there who do raise their children well, but it's undeniable that children who are either without a father or without a mother in their lives are hurt by that parent's absence. It's not a very popular or politically correct thing to say these days, but that's precisely why marriage can only be between a man and a woman, because marriage is the foundation that the family is built upon, and children need the vital perspectives of both their mothers and their fathers in their lives. There are some things in life that only a mother can give to a child, and conversely, there are some things in life that only a father can give to a child. That's why, a married man and woman, loving Christ first and putting each other before themselves, is the kind of environment a child _should_ be born into; that's why it's the ideal that people _should_ strive for.

"However, that being said, it's no secret that we live in a _very_ fallen world, and there are times when people have to make hard decisions in order to do what's best. It's true that it isn't right that your child is, most likely, not even going to know his own father. But that's _your husband's fault_ , Elizabeth, not yours. Your daughter's life is in danger, and as you've told me before – and I firmly agree – it is your responsibility as a mother to do everything within your power to try and save her life. You're not doing anything wrong. You're simply doing what you can to help give your child the bone marrow transplant she needs to survive. It's your husband who's in the wrong, here. _He_ is the one choosing to abandon you and your baby and Gail precisely when you need him with you the most, and one day, in one way or another, he _will_ eventually answer to God for it. Even though it will be hard for your child to grow up without a father, just as it was hard for Gail, God doesn't hold you responsible for that. He understands that you as a mother are simply doing what you have to do to try and save your child. He holds your husband responsible for his own selfish, terrible choices."

"Thank you, vicar," Elizabeth sighed while fighting off tears. "I think I needed to hear that a lot more than I realized."

Rachel then leaned over towards Elizabeth, touched her arm, and told her, "Don't beat yourself up about this, Elizabeth. Don't be so hard on yourself. I thoroughly agree with Michael, that God holds your husband responsible for his own selfish choices and not you. And I would also like to add that given the fact that you've already endured so many miscarriages, you going through with a pregnancy now, at your age, without your husband by your side, is unbelievably courageous. I honestly don't know that I would have that kind of courage if I were in your shoes. You should give yourself some credit. You're a very special, strong, brave woman."

"Hear, hear," Michael heartily agreed.

"If I'm so special and strong and brave, how come I still let Hyacinth walk all over me?" Liz teased.

"Well, you can't be too hard on yourself for that either," said Rachel. "Almost no one ever really stands a chance against the Bucket woman. She's practically a force of nature, like a hurricane or a tidal wave. When she comes barreling through your path, all you can really hope to do is batten down the hatches and hold on until she passes."

"Or run like the wind in the opposite direction. Sometimes, you can be fortunate enough to get away from her, if you're really fast," the vicar quipped.

They laughed a bit for a few seconds, and then Elizabeth got more serious as she told them, "Well as of right now, Hyacinth is the least of my worries. You know, I married my husband Frank when we were both just eighteen years-old. I was with Frank all through his college years, living in that tiny flat with him near his college campus, and after he graduated four years later, he got a job and we saved up for our first house. We were twenty-three when we finally moved into a home of our own, and afterwards, we started trying for children. There's nothing wrong with wanting a career, of course, but for me, I always dreamed of being a stay-at-home mother and having a very big family, and at the time, that's what Frank wanted, too. We tried for years to get pregnant, and we went to several doctors. They said I had what was called, 'unexplained infertility.' In other words, I simply could not get pregnant and there was no explanation why. Finally, when I was twenty-seven, I did get pregnant for the first time. But it wasn't long until I lost the baby, and when that happened, we were both crushed. I got pregnant again the following year, shortly after my twenty-eighth birthday, but that pregnancy didn't last long, either. At long last, when I was thirty-two, I got pregnant with Gail and I had my miracle baby, and for a long time, I was happy just having Gail in my life. Then, there eventually came a time where Frank and I decided we'd go to the fertility clinic in London for help to try and conceive another child, and we did all the IVF cycles. With their help, I got pregnant two more times, and as you already know, I lost both babies. And now, with me being pregnant again, especially at this time in my life, I'm quite terrified that I'm going to lose this baby, too. And this time, the stakes are so much higher. If I don't come through with a compatible bone marrow donor for my Gail, I'll lose her, just like I've lost all my other babies," said Liz as she started to break down and cry.

"Oh, Elizabeth," Rachel said softly, squeezing Elizabeth's hand and crying tears of her own.

In the next moment, Liz wiped her eyes, regained her composure, and said, "I know Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow; that tomorrow will worry about itself. I'm trying very hard to just relax and take this pregnancy one day at a time. But it's not easy. I'm trying to have faith and believe that God is going to get Gail and the baby and me through this, but I have to admit that I haven't been close to the Lord in a long time. I put my faith in Jesus for the first time when I was fourteen, and all throughout my teen years, I was the good little Christian girl. I did all the things I was supposed to do. I read my Bible. I went to church. I obeyed and respected my parents. I did well in school. I tried as best I could to set a good example for my little brother. And even though I was never a perfect wife, I do believe I have very often been a much better wife to Frank than he deserved over the years," Elizabeth said pointedly.

"I thought I had been doing everything right," Liz continued a moment later. "I thought I had lived my life the way I was supposed to, so I just couldn't understand why God couldn't grant me the one thing I yearned for the most: a child. During all those years and all those miscarriages, I felt abandoned by God. Betrayed. And over the years, I guess I just…drifted away from Him. I stopped studying His Word. I stopped praying. And so many times, the only reason I ever bothered to show up in church at all is because Hyacinth dragged me there. There was even a time when a Christian missionary came to the house, and instead of welcoming him into my home as I know I should have, I was so relieved to find out that Emmet had sent him over to Hyacinth's house instead.

"And now, I'm really scared, and I want to turn to Him again and trust Him, but I just don't know how. If God allowed all those other miscarriages, who's to say He won't allow me to experience that heartache again? And if He allowed me to lose all those other babies, how can I believe that He won't allow me to lose Gail, too? How, after all of this, can I possibly believe that He cares anything about me at all?"

After a long, silent moment, Michael finally looked Liz in the eye and asked, "Do you believe God cared anything about Job?"

"Yes. Yes, of course I do."

"You know what happened to the poor man, Elizabeth," the vicar continued. "He lost so much. His animals. His health. And all ten of his children. And if that wasn't bad enough, he had to put up with his so-called 'friends' who accused him of having some kind of secret sin in his life that God was punishing him for. There are some very important lessons that can be gleaned from the book of Job. Elizabeth, living a Godly life is no guarantee that you'll be spared from suffering in this world. As a matter of fact, it's very often the exact opposite. Jesus, Himself, said that if a person is of the world, the world will love its own. But for those who are born-again, who have placed their faith in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ as payment for their sins, the world is naturally going to hate them, and they're also going to become an automatic target for the devil, himself, as the book of Job proves."

"I've often thought that one of the most effective strategies of the devil against the human race was the way he successfully convinced so many people that he didn't exist," said Elizabeth.

"And I agree wholeheartedly," said the vicar. "All you have to do is spend a few minutes in a children's home with all the children there who have been abused, neglected, abandoned, or orphaned, and it should be enough to thoroughly convince anyone that the devil does, indeed, exist.

"But anyway, as I was saying before, with all due respect, doing all the right things and living a Godly life does not at all guarantee you a nice, happy, cushy existence, Elizabeth. There are some professing Christians out there who will try to convince you that God will automatically give you a cushy life if you do all the right things, but that's a false gospel. There is no other gospel than the gospel of believing on Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross to save us from hell. God can never be our debtor, Elizabeth. He is the Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth. The Creator of all of us. He doesn't owe us a happy life. He owes us nothing. That isn't to say that God is cold and cruel and that He doesn't care about us. He absolutely does. But you have to understand that becoming a Christian is not going to automatically shield you from hard times. As a matter of fact, God very often uses the most fiery trials in our lives to produce the most good, if not for ourselves and our own benefit, then for the benefit of others."

"Michael's right, Elizabeth," Rachel agreed. "There have been so many women in our parish who have suffered miscarriages, and because I've never gone through anything like that myself, I couldn't help them. But I was always able to send them to you, and because you'd been through it, you were able to be there for them and comfort them in ways nobody else could. I know how scared you must be about losing Gail and your baby. I would be equally frightened if I were in your position. And even though I wish with all my heart that I could sit here and promise you that both of your children are going to come through this with their health and their lives intact, I can't. What I _can_ promise you is, somehow, someway, God _will_ work all of this out for good for you because you do love Him and you are called according to His purpose. As I'm sure you already know, that's a promise straight out of the Bible."

"That's right," said Michael. "And I know it's a cold comfort right now, but it is a fact that God uses the trials in our lives to build up character, and God cares more about our character than He does about our comfort. If God didn't allow trials in the lives of His children and use those trials to build character in them, why, all of His born-again children through Christ would be nothing but a bunch of entitled, pampered, ungrateful, spoiled little brats. Would you _really_ want all of God's children to be like The Bucket Woman?" he teased, and Liz laughed.

"No, I certainly wouldn't," Elizabeth told him honestly.

"Liz, whatever happens, however all of this turns out, somehow, God _will_ make all of it worth it in the end, just like He did for Job. You just have to trust Him now, even though it's hard. It's in times like these that it matters the most."

Elizabeth nodded and said, "I know you're right, Rachel. I know you're both right."

"Now isn't the time to turn your back on God and run away from Him, Elizabeth," said Michael. "Now is the time to hold tighter to His hand than you ever have before in your life."

Again, Liz nodded, and she told the young couple, "I know. You're right. I will."

"You're an extraordinary woman, Elizabeth. And an extraordinary mother," said Rachel while squeezing her hand.

"Indeed you are," Michael concurred. "You're an extraordinary friend and neighbor as well. You've really been missed back home, Elizabeth. It just hasn't been the same without you."

"Funny you should mention that. Gail and Aunt Maggie and I have been talking, and I'm actually going to be coming back home next week. You see, Aunt Maggie only has the one spare bedroom, and when I first started staying here, I insisted that Gail use it while I slept on the settee, with her being ill and all. I wanted to be sure she was getting a good night's sleep every night. Then when we found out that the embryo transfer was a success and I was pregnant, Gail insisted that I sleep in the guest room while she slept on the settee, and I'm not very happy with that arrangement. I want very much to be here with Gail now, but at the same time, I want to make certain she's getting decent rest. So far, thank God, Gail's condition has remained stable ever since she came home from hospital, and the Interferon is doing a very good job of keeping her white blood cell count under control. And since she's doing so well at the moment and she has Aunt Maggie here keeping a close eye on her, we've all agreed it's for the best if I return home now so Gail can start getting a decent night's sleep once again."

"I understand," said Michael.

"That's wonderful news, Elizabeth," Rachel told her happily. "As Michael said, you really have been missed back home. I don't think you're aware of just how important you are to the community. Perhaps I shouldn't tell you this, but you really do serve as a kind of buffer between The Bucket Woman and the rest of the town. You see, now that you aren't there to go over to her house for coffee sessions and high tea – now that you aren't there to hold her attention and keep her distracted from everybody else – she's turned her attention _towards_ everybody else. Michael and I have gotten trapped into several coffee sessions at her house, and so has your poor brother, and even some of the men Mr. Bucket used to work with."

"Oh, no!" Liz said with a laugh. "Oh, dear. I am sorry to hear that you two have gotten trapped into coffee sessions with Hyacinth."

"So am I," Michael sighed, and Rachel responded with a giggle.

"Oh, come on, Michael. Be a good sport," she chided him. "It may have been agony for us, but it was worth it if it allowed Elizabeth to have a much-needed and well-earned break."

"You're right, love," he said with a smile, and then he leaned over and gave his wife a loving kiss on the cheek. "Actually, Liz, all those times we had coffee and tea with Mrs. Bucket gave me a brand new perspective."

"Oh?" said Liz.

"Yes. Enduring all those high teas and coffee sessions – getting a small taste of what you go through every day – gave me a whole new level of respect for your gentle, generous, and _very patient_ spirit. We've been talking about the book of Job today, well, let me tell you something: it takes the patience of Job to endure a woman like Mrs. Bucket on a daily basis and not lose your mind! You really are an exceptional person, and I don't believe we've given you enough credit in the past. As a matter of fact, I think we've all taken you for granted. And I apologize."

"And I apologize as well," said Rachel.

Elizabeth smiled and told him, "Apology accepted. And anyway, as trying as it can be to deal with Hyacinth, I think we can all agree that in the grand scheme of things, there are much worse things that can happen to a person besides having to endure one of her coffee sessions."

"That's true," Rachel said quietly as both she and her husband thought of everything that Liz and Gail had been going through.

"And truth be told, as difficult as it can be to put up with her at times, deep down in my heart, I really do feel sorry for her."

"You do?" said Michael, surprised that _anyone_ could ever feel sympathy for "The Bucket Woman."

"Yes. I do. It seems that for some reason, Hyacinth was never taught how to properly behave in front of others. As we all know, she's constantly saying the wrong things at the wrong times. There seems to be a lost little girl living inside her who's just crying out for acceptance and approval, and she doesn't seem to understand how to conduct herself properly so that she _can_ gain the acceptance and approval she craves. Sometimes, you just die inside of secondhand embarrassment for her because her behavior is always so grossly inappropriate. I don't know if it was because of neglect on her parents' part or what, but for some reason, she simply did not learn the things she needed to know in order to function properly in the real world as an adult. And as I said before, there's this little girl living inside of Hyacinth, just crying and begging for a friend, who just doesn't understand how to properly behave with others so that she _can_ make friends. I imagine it must get very lonely for Hyacinth sometimes. As frustrating and impossible as she can be, at the end of the day, it really would be inhuman of me not to be a friend to her.

"However, that doesn't mean that I'm _looking forward_ to facing Hyacinth next week after I get back home. I know that as soon as Hyacinth sees me back in my driveway, she'll come over to the house and start hitting me with a barrage of intrusive, irritating questions that I won't feel like answering. And, she'll probably hit me with a lot of thinly veiled criticism as well. And it won't be long after that that she'll demand I come over to her house for coffee, and it's there that I'll have to draw the line and stand up to Hyacinth and let her know that coffee is not an option for me right now. It won't be easy. I've told Emmet before that trying to talk to Hyacinth is like trying to talk to brick; words just bounce off. But somehow, I'm going to have to stand my ground and make myself heard, no matter how hard it is."

"Well Rachel and I will do everything we can to help you for as long as we can, until I step down from my position as vicar in three months."

"Step down?" said Elizabeth.

"Yes. It's difficult to admit this, but the cold, hard fact of the matter is, it's only recently that I've genuinely placed my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. I only became a vicar because my great-grandfather, my grandfather, and my father were all vicars. I did it because it was expected of me, not because I ever genuinely trusted in Jesus to be saved. I was putting on a good show. I was being a good little boy and following all the rules, but for so much of my life, that's all Christianity was to me: a series of rules to follow. I've only recently come to understand that it's really about trusting in Christ. And now that I finally have trusted in Jesus and in His finished work on the cross as just payment for my sins, I feel that my eyes have been truly opened for the first time in my life, and I'm seeing things I never could have understood before. It's like I'm seeing God's Word through new eyes, and it's really coming alive for me now. And speaking of the Bible, the Bible clearly teaches that a new convert should not try to be a leader of a church. I'm staying on for the next three months to give our church plenty of time to find a new vicar and to give Rachel and me enough time to find a new place to live. And once I've stepped down, I'm going to go from working part-time as a firefighter like I have been the past year to doing it full-time. But don't worry. Rachel and I aren't going far. We'll still be in the neighborhood, and we're still going to see everyone all the time."

"Wow," Elizabeth sighed, shocked at the news. "Well I certainly will miss seeing you in church every Sunday, but I think I understand why you feel you have to do this. And I'm glad to hear that you two aren't going far."

"Oh no, we're not going far at all," Rachel confirmed. "As a matter of fact, Michael's not the only one thinking about a career change. Before we met and fell in love and got married, I used to work as a midwife, and I'm very seriously considering going back to it. Of course I've always loved being a homemaker, but I really have missed helping bring lives into the world."

"Who knows? You may end up assisting with the delivery of this little one," Liz said while patting her stomach.

"I very well may," said a delighted Rachel.

The vicar then held up his cup of tea and said, "Ladies, I'd like to propose a toast. Here's to Elizabeth's baby and our career changes. May God be with us and help us all to do some good."

"Hear, hear," said the two ladies, and then everyone clinked their cups together with a big smile.

* * *

Later on that same evening, Hyacinth and Richard were out for a little drive when Hyacinth spotted Onslow going into a local pub with none other than Mrs. Fortescue. Ever since Mrs. Fortescue unexpectedly met up with Onslow, Daisy, and Rose on that unforgettable day that Hyacinth and Richard had been driving her around town, Mrs. Fortescue and Onslow had been the best of friends, and they often liked to go out together and enjoy a good drink. Naturally Hyacinth, who utterly refused to live in reality, wouldn't accept the fact that Mrs. Fortescue actually _liked_ Onslow and was going out for a drink with him of her own free will. The moment she saw Mrs. Fortescue on Onslow's bare arm, Hyacinth insisted that Onslow was "kidnapping" her and that "it was their moral duty to rescue her from Onslow."

As soon as Hyacinth dragged poor Richard into the pub, they started overhearing Mrs. Fortescue's conversation with Onslow. As they were sitting at a small table together waiting for the bartender to bring them their beers, they got to talking about Elizabeth.

"She called the house just the other day," Onslow told Mrs. Fortescue.

"The poor dear. I know she's been going through so much ever since her daughter became ill. And I know her husband hasn't been much help, either," she said disapprovingly. "How is she doing?"

"Given the circumstances, Elizabeth's doing quite well."

"Did you hear that, Richard?" Hyacinth whispered in her husband's ear as they walked closer to their table. "They're talking about Elizabeth." Not knowing what to say, Richard simply nodded as they walked the rest of the way over to where Onslow and Mrs. Fortescue were sitting. "Good evening, Mrs. Fortescue," Hyacinth said a moment later in a loud, obnoxious voice, wanting to make sure that other people heard that she was talking with one of the most well-known socialites in town. "I couldn't help but overhear the two of you discussing Elizabeth. You know, it's the strangest thing about Elizabeth, isn't it?" asked Hyacinth as she helped herself to a seat, and then she motioned for her reluctant husband to sit down as well, which he did. "The way she just ever-so-rudely up and left town without a word to anyone, and made no effort to report back to us about her whereabouts. One would think that after living next door to me all these years, she would show better manners than that."

"I've always found Elizabeth's manners to be impeccable," said Mrs. Fortescue. "And other people's _lack_ of manners and consideration to be atrocious," she said pointedly while glaring at Hyacinth, but as usual, Hyacinth was too willfully oblivious to take the hint.

 _Richard_ , however, _did_ take the hint, and in the next moment, he carefully suggested, "Hyacinth, I think it might be a bit crowded here. Perhaps we ought to move to a table of our own rather than just barging in on Mrs. Fortescue and Onslow."

"Don't be silly, Richard," Hyacinth dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "We're all friends here, aren't we Mrs. Fortescue?" Before Mrs. Fortescue could respond, though, Hyacinth said, "Anyway, back to Elizabeth, it's been four and a half months now that she's been gone. All I can ever get out of her brother Emmet is that she's away visiting relatives. It's such odd behavior on Elizabeth's part. It's so unlike her to just suddenly take off and be gone for four and a half months without a word to anyone."

"Hyacinth, don't you think that perhaps the reason you're so upset about Elizabeth's absence is because you've missed her?" asked Richard.

"Yeah, Hyacinth," Onslow chimed in. "You do seem to be awfully worked up about Elizabeth being gone."

"It bothers me a great deal to see someone behaving so rudely. You all know how it upsets me to witness such a lack of consideration."

Unable to take anymore of Hyacinth's nonsense, Mrs. Fortescue quickly excused herself, got up from the table, and went off to the ladies' room. As soon as Mrs. Fortescue left, Richard, too, got up and headed for the men's room for much the same reason.

Once Hyacinth was left alone at the table with Onslow, Onslow looked her straight in the eyes and told her bluntly, "Hyacinth, you know what your problem is? You have what I think of as a water-and-oxygen type of problem."

"A water-and-oxygen type of problem? Whatever do you mean?"

"If a person's water supply is cut off, he'll die within days of dehydration. And if a person's supply of oxygen is cut off, obviously, he'll die within just a few minutes. Yet no matter how vital things like water and oxygen are for humanity's very survival, people always take their water supply and their oxygen supply for granted. And in the same way, things like love and friendship are vital for the human heart to survive. Human beings can't survive emotionally without having someone in their lives to care for them. You don't know this, Hyacinth, but I'm just going to tell you the truth: Elizabeth is the only real friend you have in this entire town. She is literally the only person who even _tries_ to like you and understand you and be patient with you. Emotionally speaking, Elizabeth is your supply of water and oxygen. She does so many things for you all the time that you don't even notice. And just as people take their supply of water and oxygen for granted, you take Elizabeth for granted. You don't deserve her for a friend, Hyacinth. You never have, and frankly, you never will."

Hyacinth angrily rose from her seat that moment and responded, "This is preposterous! It's the most absurd thing I've ever heard in all my life. The only reason Elizabeth has any social standing in this town is because of her association with me. If anything, I'd say that with her leaving out of the blue and not calling me or writing me or giving me so much as one word of communication in four and a half months, _Elizabeth_ is the one who's been taking _me_ for granted."

Onslow looked up at Hyacinth in that moment and told her with disgust, "You know something, Hyacinth? You'll never change."

"Tell Richard I'll be waiting for him out in the car," she said coolly, and then she walked out in a big huff, while Onslow shook his head at her.


	5. Hyacinth Goes Too Far

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 5: Hyacinth Goes Too Far**

It was five o'clock in the evening that upcoming Monday that Elizabeth and Emmet got back to town after their drive from London, and although Liz wanted to just go home and relax, Emmet insisted on taking her to the church hall, but he wouldn't explain why. However, as soon as Emmet escorted Elizabeth into the church hall, the lights suddenly went on in the darkened room and a number of people jumped out from various hiding places and yelled, "Surprise!"

"What's all this?" Elizabeth asked with a laugh.

"It's your surprise welcome-back-home party," Rachel explained, and then she kissed Liz on the cheek.

"Welcome home, Elizabeth," Michael said happily, and then he leaned in and kissed her other cheek.

"Thank you so much. Everything is so beautiful," Liz said as she looked around at all the decorations and tables and chairs that had been brought out, and all of it in her honor. To say the least, it all really meant a lot to her.

Several older parishioners were there, such as Mrs. Lomax, Mr. Ferrini, and Mrs. Fortescue, and Onslow and Daisy were there as well, all of whom welcomed Elizabeth back with warm hugs.

Daisy, along with many female parishioners, brought a number of dishes for a potluck supper to enjoy at Elizabeth's surprise party that night, and enjoy it they did. For the next two hours, everyone enjoyed good food and pleasant conversation, and Elizabeth enjoyed it most of all. Unfortunately, though, it didn't stay that way. Just as the vicar and his wife were getting ready to bring out the big cake they'd ordered from the local bakery that had the words, "We love you Liz" written on it in pink frosting, Richard was unhappily and reluctantly following behind Hyacinth in the church parking lot.

"Hyacinth, I don't see why this is necessary," Richard moaned as he walked up the church steps behind her.

"I have a social position to maintain in this town, Richard!" Hyacinth fussed once she reached the top of the steps, and a couple of moments later, Richard joined her there. "I have it on very good authority that there is some kind of social function taking place inside the church hall right now, and that practically everyone has been invited, even that dreadful Sonia Barker-Finch!" she continued. "How will it look if Sonia Barker-Finch attends an important gathering at our church hall and I don't? People might come to the ridiculous conclusion that Sonia Barker-Finch was invited and I wasn't; that she's more highly regarded in this town than I am. I will not risk the Barker-Finches ruining my reputation. I only wish I'd heard about this whole thing sooner. It is most unfortunate that I didn't find out about this church function until we ran into the Major in town earlier this evening and he told us. I really do hate to come to a church event so late, but then again, there is such a thing as making a grand entrance. Come along, Richard."

With a sigh, Richard followed his wife into the foyer of the church hall. When they walked inside, they heard everybody singing _For She's a Jolly Good Fellow_. Hyacinth went up to the door, opened it a crack, and looked inside the church hall, only to see everybody gathered around Elizabeth, singing to her as Sonia Barker-Finch brought out the cake. The vicar was standing on Elizabeth's right and his wife on her left, and Emmet was standing right in front of the vicar. When they finished the song, Sonia set the cake down on the nearest table, and Michael and Rachel hugged Elizabeth. Emmet then gave his sister a big hug and kissed the top of her head. In the next moment, Michael picked up a glass and started hitting the side of it with a knife to get everyone's attention.

Once the crowd had quietened down a few seconds later, Michael teased, "I'm not going to bore everyone with long, dull speeches; you all get enough of that listening to my sermons every Sunday." Everybody had a good laugh at that, and then Michael turned to Elizabeth and said more seriously, "I'm just going to keep this short and sweet and simple. Elizabeth, things just haven't been the same around here ever since you left four and a half months ago. Of course we all understand why you had to go, but it doesn't change the fact that your absence really left a hole in our hearts for a while. As the cake says, we love you, Elizabeth. And we've missed you."

"Thank you, vicar," Elizabeth said softly. "Thank you all so much for this beautiful party. This is one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me."

"I don't believe it!" Hyacinth grumbled to Richard out in the foyer.

"What's going on?" asked Richard.

"It's a party. For Elizabeth. She's returned."

Richard's face lit up at that news, and he told Hyacinth, "That's wonderful news. You know, I've really missed Liz these past few months."

"Well I don't think it's such wonderful news. She just takes off one day without having the courtesy to say one word about it to me. Four and a half months go by and she never calls or writes to explain what's going on. Then one day out of the blue, she returns. And what happens when she returns? Our whole parish decides to get together and throw a party for her, without notifying me! A party for _Elizabeth_ of all people! Elizabeth has been my friend all these years, but let's face it. She's not nearly as important in this town as I am. The only reason she has any social standing in this town at all is because of her close association with me, yet they're in there throwing _her_ a party! This is most insulting!" Hyacinth complained, and before Richard could respond, she cracked the door open just a bit and got back to spying on everyone.

It was then that Mrs. Fortescue came up to Elizabeth and told her, "Ever since Rachel explained what was going on and what you were trying to do for your Gail, I've been praying for you, my dear."

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Fortescue."

"And so has everyone else. And it appears as though our prayers worked," she said while patting Elizabeth's stomach, and Elizabeth chuckled a bit. "How far along are you now?"

"Ten weeks," Elizabeth replied.

"And everything is going well with the pregnancy?"

"Well to be honest, I'm just trying to take this whole thing one day at a time. So far, everything appears to be going well. I had my first ultrasound a little while back and according to Dr. Hill, the baby seems to be developing normally."

"I'm so glad to hear that," said Mrs. Fortescue.

While Elizabeth and Mrs. Fortescue were talking, Emmet had started heading for the door because he'd thought he'd heard something, and he wanted to investigate. And just as Emmet had approached the door, Hyacinth started going into a tailspin out in the foyer.

"Baby!" Hyacinth yelled. "Elizabeth's having a baby!"

" _Baby_?!" Richard said in shock. "Are you sure you heard right?"

"I'm positive I heard right, Richard! Elizabeth is going to have a baby! I heard her say it to Mrs. Fortescue just now! How very scandalous! You do know what all of this means, don't you, Richard?"

"What does it mean?"

"It explains why Elizabeth left four and a half months ago. She left town because she was having an affair with another man, and she obviously wanted to keep everyone from finding out, so she took off to go and be with him in London! After all, we all know her husband hasn't returned from Saudi Arabia in ages. He couldn't be the father of this baby!"

"You don't know that, Hyacinth. For all we know, Frank Warden might have been on holiday in London, and she's been with him all this time. Personally, I think that's a far more likely explanation. You know Liz. She hasn't a dishonest bone in her body. She would never cheat on her husband."

"If her husband had returned from Saudi Arabia before Elizabeth went to London, she would have told me. And he wouldn't have met her in London and spent four and a half months with her there; he would have come straight home. No, an affair is the only explanation. After all this time, Elizabeth finally gave into temptation. And now she's going to give birth to an illegitimate child! How dreadful! We'll have to move, Richard, for Sheridan's sake. We cannot allow our son to be around someone like Elizabeth! We cannot allow him to be influenced by her immoral ways! I will not raise my Sheridan in a continental atmosphere!"

"I'm sure that's not it at all. I don't believe for a moment that Elizabeth is involved in anything continental. You were saying the same sort of things about Elizabeth when Emmet first appeared outside her doorstep, remember? You were so convinced that Emmet was Elizabeth's lover and that she had invited him to live with her while they carried on an extramarital affair behind her husband's back. And then you found out that Emmet was Elizabeth's brother and that there was a perfectly reasonable, innocent explanation for him being there. And I'm certain that whatever the story is with Elizabeth's pregnancy, there is an equally reasonable and innocent explanation for it. And furthermore, Hyacinth, you've got to remember that Elizabeth is a grown woman and she doesn't owe us or anybody any explanations for how she lives her own life. We're her neighbors and her friends, _not_ her parents. This is not any of our business."

"Bravo, Richard," Emmet's voice suddenly startled them, and they turned to see him standing in the doorway. Emmet then approached them and said, "Richard, I couldn't have said it any better myself. I would appreciate it very much if the two of you would follow me inside, please."

Without a word, Emmet turned around, and Richard and Hyacinth followed him into the church hall. Then in a loud voice, Emmet announced, "Everyone! Everyone, I would like your attention for a moment, please." The crowd grew silent as they saw Emmet standing there with Richard and The Bucket Woman right behind him. Everybody could easily sense it that something very big was about to go down. "I beg everyone's forgiveness here tonight, because I am about to do something that is usually quite unthinkable to me. I'm about to make a scene. But I ask all of you to indulge me, because I'm doing this for a very good reason.

"Hyacinth," he continued after turning to face her, "ever since I first moved into my sister's house two years ago, I have put up with a very great deal from you. Like many other poor souls in this room, I have endured many of your grueling candlelight suppers. I have endured your countless attempts at singing, which quite frankly, are always off-key and are always downright agonizing to listen to. I have endured you pushing your way into my rehearsals for my various musicals without any regard for how any of my performers or I might have felt about it. I have endured countless coffee sessions, which are often even more agonizing than your singing attempts. But I have my breaking point. I will take a lot from you, but I will only go so far. When you start berating my sister and talking about her behind her back and making false and completely unfounded accusations against her, you have gone where angels fear to tread! There is one thing I will never tolerate, Hyacinth, and that is you saying or doing anything to hurt my sister. Tonight, Hyacinth _Bucket_ , you have officially gone too far.

"Elizabeth," said Emmet as he turned and made eye contact with her, "out of the graciousness of your generous heart, you have been a real friend to Hyacinth for a long time, but you need to know the truth, and the truth is, Hyacinth is not now, nor has she _ever_ been a friend to _you_. _Everybody_ in this room tonight needs to catch a glimpse of who and what Hyacinth Bucket really is. Most of the time, we never take Hyacinth seriously. We just think of her as a silly wannabe socialite; a nuisance that we have to put up with for a little while before we can resume our day. But there's something much more sinister lurking beneath the surface of that silly little nuisance we all call 'The Bucket Woman.' The truth is, there's something very cold, very mean-spirited, and utterly _vicious_ going on in Hyacinth's heart. She's not just a mere nuisance. She's a _vicious_ woman who will gladly cut another person down with her words in a New York minute if it'll make her feel like she's better than them, and she will not have the tiniest bit of concern for the poor soul her words have wounded. Nothing is more important to Hyacinth than Hyacinth.

"And there's a reason why I'm saying this. As we all know, my sister is expecting a baby. And with the exception of Hyacinth and Richard, the rest of us know how it is that she got pregnant at this time in her life, and more important than how, we know _why_ she chose to try for a pregnancy now." Then turning back towards Hyacinth, he said, "Hyacinth, the claims that you made about Elizabeth when you thought you were alone with Richard – why don't you make those claims right here, right now, in front of everyone? You were bold enough to say the things you said about Liz when you thought no one but your husband could hear you. Let's see how bold you are now. Go on. Go ahead. Tell everyone what you were saying about my sister. Tell us all how you, in your brilliant hypothesis, theorize that Liz has gotten pregnant. Why, surely Hyacinth Bouquet is such a wise, intelligent soul. Surely she has all the answers and knows exactly what she's talking about. So share your brilliance with us all. Tell us all what you said to Richard about Liz. _I dare you._ "

Obviously, Hyacinth couldn't bring herself to say a word. Finally, after an uncomfortable silence, Emmet turned around and told everybody, "Hyacinth said that she believes that the reason Liz is pregnant is because she was having an affair with another man while she was in London." The instant Emmet said _that_ , the room was filled with gasps and grumbles and sighs of disgust at Hyacinth. "According to her flawlessly intelligent mind," Emmet continued, "there is no way that Elizabeth's husband Frank can possibly be the father of her baby. _That's_ the first conclusion Hyacinth jumps to when she learns her friend is pregnant. _That_ is the despicable kind of soul Hyacinth Bucket truly is. Liz has been Hyacinth's neighbor and friend ever since she moved in next door to her eight years ago. And in all that time, Hyacinth has subtly or not-so-subtly disrespected her in countless ways. She's put her through so much. And yet, out of _all_ the people in this town, Liz is literally the _only_ person who even _tries_ to speak well of Hyacinth when Hyacinth's not around. One would _think_ that Hyacinth would have enough humanity in her soul to pay Liz the same courtesy, but she clearly doesn't.

"And you know what, Hyacinth?" said Emmet after he turned back to face her again. "I could stand here and tell you about everything that my sister has been going through these past four and a half months. I could stand here and explain the whole truth to you about Elizabeth's pregnancy. I could stand here and rip you to shreds with the real facts, and take immense pleasure in watching you self-destruct before our very eyes in a sea of well-deserved guilt and shame, but I won't do that. I'll let somebody else in here have a crack at you, perhaps even Liz if she wants to. Because I assure you, Hyacinth, that all the things I've said to you tonight are things that _everybody_ in here has yearned to say to you for _years._ Now that I've gotten the ball rolling, it would be selfish of me to keep all the pleasure of cutting you down to myself. Other people deserve the opportunity to take a shot at you as well."

It was then that Elizabeth walked up to Hyacinth, and in a quiet voice, she told her, "Emmet's right, Hyacinth. We've been neighbors and friends for years. And in the time that we've lived next door to one another, I have come to see you as extended family. I've even come to love you as family, although you really can make it quite difficult to do so."

"That's an understatement!" Mrs. Lomax chimed in.

"Understatement of the century," Onslow concurred.

"Now, I…I feel so foolish," said Liz, still in a very soft tone of voice. "I feel so stupid. All this time, I really believed that there was some small part of you inside that cared about me as well. But after hearing the things you said about me behind my back…the conclusions you jumped to about me…it feels like the scales have finally been removed from my eyes. You really _don't_ care about me, Hyacinth, and you never did. You're not the least bit concerned about how things are with my family or with me. During all this time that I've been gone, I'll bet it never once crossed your mind to ask yourself, 'Is Elizabeth alright? Is her family alright?' Emmet is right. There really is nothing in this world that is more important to you _than you._ "

"Hear, hear!" cried out Mrs. Fortescue.

After letting out a fatigued sigh, Liz said, "Please forgive me, everyone, but it's been a long day, and I'm tired." She then turned to Emmet and said, "Emmet, please drive me home."

"Of course," said Emmet.

As the brother and sister walked out of the church hall together, Liz said, "Thank you all very much for the party. It was lovely."

"Love you, Liz," one lady's voice called out.

"Get some rest, Liz," one man said.

"Try not to dream about Hyacinth tonight," one jokester remarked.

And with that, Elizabeth and Emmet were out the door.

As soon as they were gone, people didn't hesitate to start tearing into Hyacinth.

"How could you say such a thing about Liz?!" one lady shouted.

"You really are a mean-spirited woman!" a man cried out.

"You're a cruel woman, Mrs. Bucket! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!" yelled Mrs. Fortescue.

"Alright! Alright! Enough!" Daisy shouted in a voice loud enough to drown everybody else's voices out. After making her way over to Hyacinth, Daisy turned to the crowd and told them, "I know that Hyacinth's remarks about Elizabeth tonight were hurtful, insensitive, and yes, even cruel. But Hyacinth is my sister, and I have known her far longer than any of you have. I know her better than you people ever could. I know that Hyacinth's behavior tonight has been appalling, and I agree with Emmet wholeheartedly when he says that she's gone too far. I know she has. And I understand why all of you think that Hyacinth is vicious and cruel. But I know my sister. Hyacinth is not vicious and cruel." She then turned back to Hyacinth, looked her right in the eyes, and said pointedly, " _She's just very, very stupid._ And she often opens her big mouth and says stupid things without really thinking."

"What on earth is all of this about?!" Hyacinth demanded to know. "Why has everyone suddenly started attacking me?! What have I done to deserve all of this?!"

"Sit down, Hyacinth, and I'll tell you," said Daisy in a very low-pitched, no-nonsense tone.

"I don't understand. Why–"

" **SIT DOWN HYACINTH!** " Daisy's voice boomed through the entire church hall, and it was then that Hyacinth walked over to the nearest chair and did as her sister said. In the next moment, Daisy pulled up a chair and sat down in front of Hyacinth.

"Why has everyone turned against me?" Hyacinth asked through tears.

"Because you have got the most obnoxious habit of taking every single situation you encounter and twisting it in order to make it all about you. Because you cannot grasp the very simple fact that life _does_ go on after Hyacinth Bucket walks out of a room. And yes, your last name _is_ Bucket, Hyacinth, whether you like it or not. But I digress. Hyacinth, it is high time that you started to understand _that this world does not revolve around you._ Nor does it revolve around your Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles. Nor does it revolve around your white slimline telephone, or any of the other trivial objects in your superficial life that you love to obsess about. You like to lie to yourself and convince yourself that everybody else in this town cares about your periwinkles or your telephone, but they don't. People's lives do not revolve around you like you fool yourself into believing they do. Other people have lives and personal issues of their own that are none of your business. _You_ are _not_ the only person on this planet, Hyacinth, and you need to stop acting as if you are. You've built this false, imaginary world you like to live in where you're some kind of wealthy aristocrat and people worship you because of your social status. But that isn't reality, and now, the time has finally come that you have simply _got_ to start living in reality again, for your own sake and for everybody else's. When Elizabeth left for London four and a half months ago, you got angry and offended that she didn't tell you she was leaving and where she was going and why. You never once stopped to consider the fact that none of that was your business. You _also_ never stopped to ask about _Elizabeth's_ well-being. You were never _once_ concerned about _Elizabeth._ You were only concerned about _you_ and your hurt feelings. That is what I'm talking about when I say that you act as though you are the only person on this planet. Everything isn't always about _you_ , Hyacinth. _Other people do exist._ And other people have needs, too. All throughout the history of your friendship with Elizabeth, all you've ever done is order her over to your house for coffee, make her walk on eggshells, stress her out, disrespect her, and drag her into your stupid little schemes to try and climb the social ladder. It's always been about _you_ , never about Elizabeth, and that needs to change. Liz isn't just some object to be used for your whims and desires. _She's a human being._ And ever since the two of you have been friends, she's always done all the giving, and you've always done all the taking. Now _you_ need to start being there for _Liz._ You have no idea what she's going through right now."

"What _is_ she going through?!" asked an exasperated Hyacinth.

Looking Hyacinth straight in the eyes, Daisy told her point-blank, "Elizabeth's daughter has cancer."

It was in that instant that Hyacinth's face changed from arrogant, self-righteous anger to pure shock. "What?" she gasped.

"The reason Elizabeth left town so suddenly is because she got a phone call from her Aunt Maggie one day telling her that her daughter Gail had passed out. Liz left to be with her daughter that day, who had been taken by ambulance to the hospital. Not long after that, they learned that Gail has a form of leukemia."

"Leukemia?" she whispered in disbelief.

"That's right," said Daisy. "It can be treated with medication, but the only cure is a bone marrow transplant. The doctors have told Elizabeth that if Gail doesn't receive a bone marrow transplant, she will most likely be dead within three years, five years if she's lucky. And the best hope Gail has for a compatible bone marrow donor is a full-blooded sibling. Now I assume you're aware of fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization?"

"Yes, I'm aware of it," Hyacinth said quietly as she and Richard began putting two and two together.

"When Gail was ten years-old, Elizabeth and her husband Frank decided they wanted to try for another baby, and they went to a fertility clinic in London for help," Daisy explained. "They went through several IVF cycles, but in the end, they decided to stop trying to have another child. However, they had some embryos that were left over from all their IVF cycles that they decided to keep frozen. Their left over embryos have remained frozen all these years. And while Liz was in London, she decided to go back to the fertility clinic and try for another pregnancy with her frozen embryos in the hopes that she'll have a child who's a match for Gail. One of the embryos took, and now she's pregnant."

In that moment, both Hyacinth and Richard looked as though they'd been kicked in the stomach, albeit for different reasons. Hyacinth, because for the first time in so many years, she truly was horrified at her own atrocious behavior, and Richard, because he was heartbroken over everything Elizabeth and her daughter had been going through.

"Hyacinth, for years, you've just walked all over Elizabeth without even thinking about it," Daisy told her truthfully as more tears escaped from Hyacinth's eyes. "You've probably never once felt any genuine respect for her. But Elizabeth's not a doormat. She's a hero. She's suffered numerous miscarriages in the past, and she knows she's risking going through that terrible ordeal all over again. She also knows what a great risk it is to her overall health for her to be going through with a pregnancy at her age. She's putting her health and very possibly her life on the line because she's trying desperately hard to save her child. She is not weak, and she is _not_ beneath you. She's a remarkable person, and she deserves your respect."

"Amen," Michael said softly, and then utter silence filled the room as Hyacinth and everybody else got lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

Hyacinth's experience in the church hall that night was clearly a bombshell of epic proportions. Hyacinth had honestly never been so utterly shaken by anything before in her entire life. She was still a bit angry and upset at Emmet and Daisy for cutting her down and publicly shaming her the way they did, but yet, it was impossible for her to deny the fact that they'd been at least _somewhat_ right. She was still too prideful to admit it to herself how right they'd been when they'd called her out on all her self-centeredness, but she absolutely could _not_ fool herself into believing that her falsely accusing Elizabeth of adultery was acceptable behavior. Even someone as oblivious and _un-_ self-aware as Hyacinth could see how awful it was of her to be so unfair and hurtful to Elizabeth, especially in light of everything she and her daughter were going through.

Two days passed, and in that time, Hyacinth remained in a kind of silent shock. She did continue to function, but just barely, and Richard was amazed at how quiet his wife actually became. For the first time _ever_ in her life, Hyacinth Bucket was truly a deer caught in the headlights. Although the silence was certainly a very nice change, however, Richard knew that things couldn't stay that way forever. He knew he _had_ to get Hyacinth to make peace with Elizabeth.

So finally, three days after the church hall incident, Richard sat Hyacinth down at the kitchen table and took full advantage of her uncharacteristic silence. He pulled up the chair next to Hyacinth, sat down before her, locked his eyes with hers, and told her the cold, hard truth.

"Hyacinth, when I first met you as a young man, it took me all of two minutes to fall in love with you. When we first met, you were a poor, hardworking girl, constantly working her fingers to the bone to make sure her younger sisters and her alcoholic father were cared for. Your family was your greatest concern, not what other people thought of your social status. Your father's pretty harmless now, but when you and your sisters were younger, he was a very cruel, abusive man. You went through hell in that house in order to protect your sisters from your father. With your mother having passed away early in your childhood, _you_ were the only mother, the only _parent,_ your sisters had, and they knew that, and they always looked to you, and you were always right there for them. You were tough. You were strong. You were loving. You were nurturing. You were a survivor. And perhaps most importantly of all, you were _real._ You weren't some fake, phony, wannabe socialite. You knew who and what you were. You _knew_ you were a leader and a survivor. Every second I was with you when we were young kids, you _constantly_ earned my respect and admiration. You _constantly_ inspired me. You were my hero, Hyacinth," he told her in a deep, serious voice as tears started coming to her eyes.

"But then," he continued, "something happened. For the first few years of our marriage, we didn't have a lot, but we were so in love, and it really was heaven…that is, until I started advancing in my career and we were able to afford a nicer house. Or more to the point, a house _farther_ _away_ from the house you grew up in. You became embarrassed by your family, by the sisters you'd always loved and cared for. You became obsessed with forgetting your past and rewriting your history so you'd begin to fit in with the upper class. You built this imaginary world that you continually lived in day after day after day. I eventually came to realize that it was all just…your way of trying to forget your pain. I knew you had stopped living in reality a long time ago, and in the process, you changed into a person who was the exact opposite of the girl I fell in love with. But I put up with it. I put up with the way you treated me and all the other people around you because I knew how much it would hurt you to remind you of the truth. I knew you needed to convince yourself that your father was some kind of genius in his day, some kind of war hero, and not a violent, cruel drunkard who put you through the most heartbreaking abuse, so that you could forget your pain. After the hell he put you through as a girl, I could never have been so heartless as to stop you from doing what you felt you needed to do to stop yourself from hurting. _That's_ why I did it, Hyacinth. _That's_ why I always put up with so much from you on a daily basis. Your constant orders. Your schemes. Your bullying. Your intimidation. Your candlelight suppers. Your conscripting me and other innocent bystanders into whatever outrageous plans you'd come up with for the day. It wasn't easy. In fact, all these years, it's been unbelievably difficult to deal with your behavior towards me and towards others, but I did it because I always understood _why_ you acted the way you did.

"But now, things have reached a critical point in your life, Hyacinth, and in Elizabeth's life as well. I love you. Daisy and Rose and Violet love you. And Elizabeth, who truly is the only genuine friend you've ever had in this town, loves you as well. But if you don't start making some changes, _and soon_ , you're going to lose your friendship with Elizabeth, and you're going to be headed down a very lonely and dreary path. You have two choices, Hyacinth. You can choose to either swallow your pride, go to Elizabeth, _genuinely_ apologize to her for the way you've bullied her all these years, and start being there for her for the first time ever in your friendship, or you can choose to cling to your pride, lose your best friend, and spend the rest of your life being lonely. You can choose to remain this childish, self-centered, entitled, spoiled brat you've morphed into over the years that doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to that wonderful girl I fell in love with, or you can choose to remember who you really are inside and go back to being that beautiful young woman I married. It's all up to you."

And with that, Richard got up and left the kitchen. After her husband was gone, Hyacinth broke down into sobs.

* * *

The following morning, Hyacinth, with Richard by her side, rang Elizabeth's doorbell. And when Hyacinth rang Elizabeth's door, her heart leapt into her throat when she saw that it was indeed Emmet who answered the door.

"What do _you_ want, Hyacinth?" Emmet angrily spat out at her.

However, before Hyacinth could respond, Richard told him, "Emmet, she wants to apologize to Elizabeth."

After a reluctant silence, Emmet eventually said, "Alright, Hyacinth. I'll let you go inside and speak to my sister. But if you do or say anything to upset her, I'll toss you out on your Royal Doulton so fast, you won't even know what hit you."

For the first time _ever,_ a thoroughly subdued Hyacinth said quietly to Emmet, "I won't. You have my word."

"I'm going to hold you to that," said Emmet in a very no-nonsense voice, and there really was no doubt whatsoever that he meant business. Emmet might have hidden from Hyacinth in the past, but after everything she'd recently put his sister through, he was now more than ready to stand up to her and protect Elizabeth from her.

Moments later, Emmet let Hyacinth and Richard into the house, and after they went into Elizabeth's lounge, Emmet explained to his sister why Hyacinth wanted to see her. Elizabeth then asked the men to leave the two of them alone.

"Very well, sis. We'll go. But remember, I'm here if you need me," Emmet assured her.

"I know," Liz said softly, and then Emmet kissed her cheek before he and Richard left.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Hyacinth, standing across the room from Elizabeth, finally looked at her and quietly asked, "How are you feeling, Elizabeth?"

"About as well as can be expected. Some days are easier than others."

"Any morning sickness yet?"

"Hyacinth, did you _really_ come over here to ask me about morning sickness?" asked Elizabeth with her arms folded across her chest.

"No," Hyacinth told her honestly. "I came over here to try and save our friendship."

"Friendship," Elizabeth said in disbelief, and then she put her hands on her hips. "Why on earth would such a paragon of virtue like Hyacinth Bouquet, who has such a high social standing in this town, wish to associate with a little nobody like me who cheats on her husband and gets pregnant with illegitimate children?"

Hyacinth closed her eyes then as the full impact of her own mean-spirited accusations truly hit her.

"As difficult as it may be to believe, Elizabeth, even those of us with the highest of standards can have…foolish moments where they don't think before they speak."

"Oh, I can believe it. I can believe it very easily," Elizabeth said as she took her hands down from her hips and relaxed a little more.

"I admit that I often tend to jump to conclusions about people – the worst conclusions – without knowing all the facts first."

"Even people you've known for years, who have done everything you've ever asked of them and then some and have given you no reason whatsoever to believe bad things about them," Elizabeth said while keeping her gaze firmly locked with Hyacinth's.

After an uncomfortable silence, Hyacinth finally told Elizabeth, "It's like I said. Even the best of us can have times when we're…very foolish. Very stupid, even."

"Very unfair," Elizabeth added.

"Yes, that too. My brother-in-law Onslow recently told me that I've been taking you for granted. I didn't take him seriously at the time. Well, I never take anything Onslow has to say seriously. But after what happened at the church hall the other day, I've been doing some hard thinking, and I think it might be possible that just this once…he actually is right. Being the remarkably busy hostess that I am, I often have my mind on all my social responsibilities and obligations, and even someone as conscientious as I am can sometimes forget the more important things in life."

"Such as?"

"Such as…taking the time to appreciate the people you love. Taking the time to _be there_ for the people you love."

"Hyacinth, what is it exactly that you're trying to say to me?"

"Well first of all," Hyacinth said reluctantly, "I'm trying to say that…I realize that I was terribly out of line at the church hall the other day. I apologize. You're right. I was very unfair to you, and I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."

After a brief silence, Elizabeth told Hyacinth, "Apology accepted."

"Second of all, I feel I should tell you…I want to tell you…"

"You want to tell me what?"

Following another silence, Hyacinth hesitantly replied, "I want to tell you…that I have always respected you."

"You have?" said a very surprised Elizabeth.

"Yes. Very much so. You see, Elizabeth, it isn't always easy to be a person of such impeccable taste and remarkably high standards. You may find this difficult to believe, but the truth is, many people actually find it frightening and intimidating to be around me. I believe my perfection as a hostess, my immensely high standards and my very great attention to detail, intimidates most people. I make it look easy. That's what the perfect hostess does. She makes everything she does look easy. She hides her pain. But the truth is, when you reach the level of perfection that I have, you automatically make other people around you feel inferior, whether you mean to or not, and they inevitably avoid you as a result. The life of the perfect hostess is indeed a very lonely life. And I realize that like countless others, you too have been intimidated by my perfection over the years. Yet no matter how difficult it was for you to even try to live up to my standards, you always tried. You always had the courage to keep making the effort, no matter how hard it was, and I have always respected you because of it. There are very few people who can take being around someone like me as often as you are. You are, in fact, a special person in your own right and…"

"And?" Elizabeth prodded.

"And…I don't know what I would ever do without you. I know now that I haven't said this to you enough through the years, but I care about you very much. You've always been a very dear friend to me, and you've always meant a great deal to me, Elizabeth. I am truly sorry if I haven't expressed it enough over the course of our friendship."

"You've never expressed it _at all_ until just now."

"Well _I am_ expressing it now. You said at the church hall that you'd come to think of me as extended family, and maybe I didn't express it to you the way I should have over the years, but I've always felt the same way about you. I care about you. _I need you, Elizabeth_ ," Hyacinth said as tears came to her eyes.

Elizabeth, remaining firm, told her, "Yes, well, _I_ have needs too, Hyacinth. I have a sick daughter. I'm going through a very high-risk pregnancy all on my own without my husband by my side. And given my history of miscarriages, this baby I'm carrying is still in great danger and will be for many more weeks. I cannot and I will not be at your beck and call anymore, Hyacinth. I won't be ordered over to your house for coffee anymore. _I won't_ allow you to intimidate me and cause me a lot of undue stress anymore. Gail needs me more than she ever has before, and so does my baby. For the sake of both of my children, I need to start taking care of myself now. I used to allow much of my life to revolve around you and your coffee sessions and your candlelight suppers and your various schemes, but now, Gail and my baby are going to come first. And if you are truly my friend, you will understand that."

"Understand? Of course I understand," said Hyacinth while choking on a sob, and then she walked up to Elizabeth and gave her the tightest hug while she too broke down into tears. When the embrace ended several long moments later, Hyacinth asked, "How could I not understand? I'm a mother too. Oh Elizabeth, I know that sometimes I can be…"

"Demanding and pushy?"

"I suppose so. I suppose even the most conscientious hostess can get a bit carried away sometimes. But I never meant to make you feel like I didn't care about you. However, all that being said, I have come to the unfortunate realization that much of our friendship – _too much_ of our friendship – has always revolved around me. And I think it's time that you and I started making some changes."

"Alright. How do we start?"

Hyacinth then put her hand on Elizabeth's arm and answered, "After all this time…after all these years…I think it's time you started telling me what I can do for you."

"Do you _really_ want to know what it is that you can do for me, Hyacinth? Do you _really_ want to know what it is that I need most from you?"

"Very much so," Hyacinth told her honestly.

"Alright. I need you to start _listening_ to me. There have been countless times over the years when I've tried to tell you things but _you just would not listen._ I've always done all the listening in this relationship, but now, I'm in a place in my life where _I_ need to pour my heart out to someone. More specifically, I need to pour my heart out to someone who will really listen to me and be there for me."

"Come on, love. Let's sit down," Hyacinth said kindly, and a moment later, she and Elizabeth were sitting across from one another in Elizabeth's living chairs. Hyacinth then held Elizabeth's hand and assured her, "I'm listening."

"Ever since Gail was diagnosed with leukemia, I've tried very hard to be strong for her. I've tried very hard to always put on a brave face and be reassuring. And I've been the same way about this pregnancy. I've tried my best to be optimistic and confident, mostly for Gail's sake. People have told me how brave I'm being."

"It's true, Elizabeth. _You are_ being brave, and I admire you so very much. I can't even begin to imagine what all of this must be like for you."

"If I'm being so brave, why am I constantly shaking inside?" Liz asked as a tear escaped from one of her blue eyes. "The truth is, every second of every day, I'm terrified, Hyacinth. I lost two babies before I had Gail, and I got pregnant twice after Gail was born and I lost those babies, too. And now here I am, at the age I am, and I'm pregnant again, and this time, I know that my daughter's life depends on what happens with this pregnancy. If I fail with this baby like I failed with all the others, Gail will die."

In that instant, Hyacinth took Elizabeth's other hand in hers and gave both her hands a loving squeeze. She then said while firmly locking her gaze with Elizabeth's, "Now you listen to me. You are _not_ at fault for the babies you lost in the past. Miscarriages just simply happen sometimes, and we don't know why, but your previous miscarriages _did not_ happen because you failed in any way, shape, or form. I know what a wonderful mother you are, Elizabeth, and I know that the times you were pregnant before, you took good care of yourself and did everything right."

"Yes, I did," Elizabeth confirmed as more tears fell from her eyes.

"But sometimes even when we do everything right, bad things still happen, and it's nobody's fault. You've got to stop blaming yourself," Hyacinth told her kindly, and Elizabeth nodded. "And as far as this baby is concerned, you are _not_ going to lose it. And you are _not_ going to lose Gail. I know this is a high risk pregnancy, and I know you're scared. I'm scared too. But I'm going to be there with you every step of the way, and so is Emmet, and so is Richard. You may not have your husband with you, but you are _not_ doing this alone, Elizabeth. Whenever you feel frightened or overwhelmed and you need someone, you just ring me, and I'll come running. Whenever you need _anything_ at all, come to me."

Elizabeth nodded, and then she let go of Hyacinth's hands and grabbed some tissues and dried her eyes. After sitting quietly together for a couple of minutes, the two ladies rose from their seats, and Hyacinth gave Elizabeth a very long, warm hug.

As Hyacinth was hugging her, she whispered into Elizabeth's ear, "It's going to be alright, my dear girl. It's going to be alright." Then the embrace ended, and Hyacinth said in a confident voice, "This is going to work out. We're all going to be right here with you, and we are all going to take very good care of you." A second later, Hyacinth patted Elizabeth's stomach and added, "Of _both_ of you." That caused Elizabeth to smile, and then Hyacinth asked, "When is your little one due?"

"The fifteenth of July."

"Well until then, we will simply see to it that you eat properly, get plenty of rest and relaxation, and that you follow your doctor's orders down to the letter."

Choked up by Hyacinth's rare display of tenderness, Liz whispered, "Thank you, Hyacinth."

Hyacinth put her arm around Elizabeth's shoulders in that moment and told her, "We're going to get through this, Elizabeth. I promise you. And you are going to have a very healthy, happy, beautiful little baby, and Gail is going to get the bone marrow transplant she needs and when she does, she'll have _you_ to thank for it."

Again, Elizabeth and Hyacinth hugged one another for a very long time. While they were hugging, Emmet stuck his head inside to check on Elizabeth. When he saw them together, he knew that his sister had forgiven Hyacinth for her dreadful behavior. And in fact, it did seem as though Hyacinth had learned her lesson and was going to have a kinder, gentler attitude towards Elizabeth now. But one question remained in the skeptical brother's mind: would it _really_ last?


	6. Taking Care of Liz

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 6: Taking Care of Liz**

The following week, everyone celebrated the Christmas holidays. Onslow, Daisy, Rose, and their father all gritted their teeth through another one of Hyacinth's Christmas dinners at her house, and Elizabeth and Emmet went to London to spend their Christmas with Gail and their Aunt Maggie. At one o'clock the following afternoon, shortly after Elizabeth and Emmet returned home, Hyacinth called.

"Hello?" said Liz.

"Hello Elizabeth. It's Hyacinth. I just looked outside my window and saw that your car was back, so I knew you and Emmet had returned."

"Yes. We got back home about twenty minutes ago."

"How are you, dear? How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling alright, Hyacinth. Thank you for asking. And you?"

"Richard and I are quite well, love. Thank you. Did you eat well during your visit with your aunt and your daughter? Did you get plenty of rest?"

Elizabeth's face clearly registered a note of surprise, which Emmet immediately picked up on. Hyacinth was actually asking Elizabeth how she was. She wasn't ordering her over to her house for another one of her excruciating coffee sessions. She wasn't talking over her or being bossy. She was _genuinely concerned_ about her.

"Yes. Yes, I did. Thank you."

"I'm so glad to hear it. Did you all have a nice Christmas together?"

"Oh yes. We had a very lovely time. How was your Christmas?"

"It was nice enough," said Hyacinth with a tiny hint of criticism in her voice, and it was easy for Liz to decipher that that meant she'd spent another Christmas with her father, her sisters, and her brother-in-law. "How is Gail?" she asked, quickly changing the subject. "Is the medication still keeping her white blood cell count under control?"

"It is, thank the Lord. Gail's doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Despite everything she's going through, though, she's doing incredibly well in law school."

"Is she? That's wonderful news. I know how proud you must be."

"More than I can really express."

"Any morning sickness today?"

"Some."

"But you're still eating and drinking, though?"

"I'm doing the best I can, although to tell the truth, my stomach's not exactly being cooperative."

"I know what you're going through. I remember all too well what it was like when I was pregnant with my Sheridan. During those first few months, it was all I could do to keep anything down. But no matter how hard it is, you must eat and drink properly. You and your baby need your nutrients, and the two of you mustn't get dehydrated. When I was pregnant with Sheridan, I found that the key was always to eat snacks and small meals throughout the day. Come over to my house, dear, and I'll prepare a light meal for you."

"That's very kind of you, Hyacinth, but you needn't go to all that trouble."

"It's no trouble at all. It's my pleasure. I'll see you in ten minutes."

"Thank you, Hyacinth," said Liz, and then she hung up the phone.

"Don't tell me you've been summoned over to Hyacinth's house. I thought you were going to start standing up to her from now on," Emmet complained.

"Oh Emmet, she was much kinder this time. She really is concerned about the baby and me."

"Well for your sake and for all our sakes, I hope Hyacinth remains kinder."

"So do I," Liz agreed with a sigh.

* * *

Although Elizabeth was supposed to be at Hyacinth's house in ten minutes, she didn't arrive until twelve minutes later. Normally, Hyacinth would have made a fuss about it, but when she answered the door this time, she couldn't have been nicer.

"Elizabeth," Hyacinth said warmly, and then she gave her a big hug. When the embrace was over, she said, "It's so good to see you. Do come in."

"Thank you."

Before Liz could say another word, though, a sudden wave of nausea hit her, and she could tell that once again that day, her stomach was going to betray her. Without a word to Hyacinth, she quickly covered her mouth and darted off to Hyacinth's bathroom.

"Oh dear," said a concerned Hyacinth, who had immediately figured out what was happening. Naturally, she followed Elizabeth, and moments later she entered her bathroom and found her poor friend kneeling on the floor in front of the toilet, vomiting. Hyacinth quickly got a wet washcloth for Elizabeth, sat down on the floor behind her to support her, and patted her forehead and face with the washcloth.

A couple of seconds later when Liz was able to catch her breath, she looked up at Hyacinth and told her, "I'm terribly sorry about this, Hyacinth."

"Nonsense, dear. You have nothing to apologize for. These things are beyond our control. During the first few months of my pregnancy with Sheridan, I was nauseous constantly. We mothers go through a lot while carrying our little ones, don't we?"

"Yes, we certainly do," Liz agreed. "But it's been so long since I've been pregnant that I'd forgotten what it was like."

"I think I had, too. But now that you're expecting a little one again, it's all coming back, isn't it?"

"Indeed."

"Well, we'll stay here in the bathroom for a little while until your stomach settles down again, and then we'll go into the kitchen and I'll serve you some ginger-ale. It's terribly important that we keep you and the baby well hydrated, Elizabeth."

"Thank you very much, Hyacinth. That's very kind of you."

"That's what friends are for, my dear girl. After you've gotten some fluids down, I'll give you some saltine crackers. That's how I got through the first half of my pregnancy with Sheridan, drinking ginger-ale and eating saltines."

"It's been the same way with me."

"And after you've had some crackers, you can try a piece of fruit or perhaps a little yogurt. I prepared a plate of assorted fruits for you, as a matter of fact, and I have plenty of yogurt in the fridge. We'll just take it one step at a time and slowly introduce a little food into your system."

"It really is very thoughtful of you."

"As I said, it's what friends are for," said Hyacinth. However, just as Liz was about to respond, she was overwhelmed with another wave of nausea, and again, she vomited. "Oh, poor love," Hyacinth said sympathetically while rubbing Elizabeth's back. A couple of moments later as Hyacinth continued bathing Elizabeth's face with the washcloth, she told her in a warm, encouraging voice, "Hang in there, Elizabeth dear. You have a long road ahead, but you'll get through it, and I'll be right here to help you. You've done this before with your Gail, and I've done it before with my Sheridan. This isn't anything we ladies can't handle."

"Right you are," Liz agreed. Then after sitting together in silence for a few moments, she said honestly, "I'm glad you're with me now, Hyacinth."

"So am I, Liz," Hyacinth said kindly. "So am I."

* * *

Elizabeth ended up staying at Hyacinth's for several hours while Hyacinth cared for her. In fact, Hyacinth wouldn't let Liz leave until she'd had plenty of ginger-ale to drink and had gotten some food down. However, even though Hyacinth was still being a little pushy and bossy, Elizabeth didn't mind it this time because it was all done in a much kinder way. It was quite clear that Hyacinth really was concerned about Elizabeth and her baby.

When Hyacinth invited Elizabeth over for breakfast the next day, Elizabeth didn't object, and in fact she really was touched by the way Hyacinth was fussing over her now. In the middle of breakfast, Liz got sick at her stomach again, and just like the day before, Hyacinth was very helpful and supportive. Again, she wouldn't let Liz leave until she'd made certain that she'd gotten plenty of fluids down, not to mention fruit and saltines. She also called Liz later on to remind her to take at least one nap through the day, and she spoke to Emmet as well and instructed him to report to her if he caught his sister overdoing it with her housework.

The following morning, right after Hyacinth got off the phone with Liz, she told Richard, "I'm worried about Elizabeth."

"I think we're all worried about her, Hyacinth. It is a very high-risk pregnancy after all."

"I don't think she looked at all well when she was over here yesterday. To tell the truth, she looked exhausted. I don't think she's getting enough rest. I specifically told Emmet that he must make certain Elizabeth gets plenty of rest now."

"It is understandable that she'd be tired. You experienced fatigue when you were pregnant with Sheridan."

"I know. But I'm still very concerned, dear. This pregnancy really does appear to be taking its toll on Elizabeth, not to mention what she's going through with Gail. I invited her over for breakfast again this morning, and Emmet too, but perhaps that was a bad idea. I might have called Elizabeth too early. What if she needs more sleep?"

"I'm sure you didn't call her too early, Hyacinth."

"Well, I must make certain I'm not depriving her of the rest she needs. I'll go in the kitchen and put the finishing touches on breakfast, and while I'm doing that, you go into our bedroom and get out one of my nightgowns for Elizabeth and turn down the covers for her. If she needs to sleep more before she eats, she can lie down in our room and rest for a while."

In that next moment, just as Hyacinth was about to run off to the kitchen, Richard suddenly reached out, grabbed his wife's arm, pulled her close to him, and gave her the most passionate kiss he'd given her in over twenty years. Hyacinth then blushed like a young schoolgirl, which only made her more beautiful in Richard's eyes.

"Richard, whatever was that for?" Hyacinth asked softly, still blushing.

"Nothing. I'm just so proud of you. You really are being a wonderful friend to Elizabeth now. You try to act all tough and strict and authoritative, but there's a very sensitive, tenderhearted young girl hiding underneath. And I've missed that sweet young girl. I've missed her very, very much."

It was the strongest display of affection that had occurred between them in ages, and it was stirring up a sea of emotions in Hyacinth's heart that she wasn't truly prepared to deal with yet. She held her husband's gaze with her eyes for several long moments, not knowing what to say or how to react, until finally, she stopped blushing and regained her composure.

"I must see to breakfast," Hyacinth said quietly, and then she quickly slipped away into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Richard went to the bedroom to carry out Hyacinth's instructions, feeling almost guilty. It was almost as if he'd frightened Hyacinth in a way, and he wasn't sure if he'd done something wrong or not. It really was a spur-of-the-moment type of thing. Richard had just done it without really thinking it through. Whether it was a good thing for him to have done or not would remain to be seen.

* * *

"Have you started thinking of names yet, dear?" Hyacinth asked Liz in the kitchen a little bit later that morning.

"No, not yet."

"If it's a boy, you could call him Bozo after his father," Emmet joked.

"Oh, Emmet," Liz scolded her brother.

"You know, if this baby's a girl, you could do like my mother did with my sisters and me and name her after a flower," Hyacinth suggested. "There's all sorts of lovely flower names to choose from. Something like Lilly, perhaps. Or Jasmine."

"Or maybe Iris," Richard chimed in.

"Those are lovely suggestions. I'll give it some thought, but I don't think I'll be making any decisions right away."

"Of course not, dear," said Hyacinth. "Picking a name for your child is a terribly important decision. A good parent must take her time and be extra careful to pick the perfect name."

"You certainly were careful about picking out Sheridan's name, Hyacinth. He was a month old before we were finally able to fill out his birth certificate," Richard kidded his wife.

"I had to be sure it was just right. I wasn't about to stick our son with just any old name. It had to be special."

"Don't be too hard on her, Richard. I agonized over choosing Gail's name. I finally decided on Gail because it was my grandmother's name, and she was a wonderful lady."

"Ah, how sweet, dear," Hyacinth said kindly. Before she could continue the conversation, though, she noticed that Elizabeth's face had suddenly turned an alarming shade of gray. She put her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder then and asked, "Are you alright, Liz? You don't look well. I know you said earlier that you didn't need to go into the bedroom to lie down, but maybe you should after all."

After a long pause, Liz shook her head and said, "No. No thank you, Hyacinth. I really don't want to lie down right now. I'm just feeling a bit warm, that's all. If you all will forgive me, I think I need to step outside in the cool air for a moment. I'll be right back."

"Of course, dear," Hyacinth said as they all stood up together with Elizabeth, and then she put her arm around Elizabeth's waist. "I'll come along with you. We'll be back in a moment, gentlemen."

The ladies took a couple of steps towards the back door, but just as Hyacinth was about to reach for the doorknob to open it, Elizabeth suddenly cried out in pain and doubled over, holding her stomach.

"Oh Hyacinth, it's the baby. Something's wrong," Liz said as tears filled her eyes.

"Lean on me. I'll help you into the bedroom so you can lie down. Then we'll call your doctor."

Before Liz could even try to move, though, the pain became utterly unbearable, and she cried out and collapsed onto her knees.

"Never mind that," said Hyacinth as she got down on her knees beside Elizabeth and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "Richard, go and ring for an ambulance! **Now!** " Richard shot out of the kitchen like a bullet out of a gun in that moment, and then Hyacinth turned her attention to Emmet. "Emmet," she told him, "go into the linen closet and get some towels, and then spread them out on the bed. After you've done that, come back in here and help me get Liz into the bedroom so she can lie down."

"Right," Emmet said quietly, and then he took off as well.

"It hurts," Liz said through her tears, and then she started clinging to Hyacinth, and Hyacinth held her close and even started to cry with her. "Oh Hyacinth, it hurts so much. It's awful."

"You just cry to Hyacinth, love. Cry to Hyacinth. You just cry out all that pain, sweet girl. Cry it out. Cry it all out."

As Elizabeth was on her knees with Hyacinth, crying in her arms, a sudden gush of blood began flowing from in between her legs, and she lost an enormous amount of blood very quickly. It was then that Emmet reappeared in the kitchen, and he instantly scooped his sister up into his arms and carried her to Hyacinth's bedroom. Hyacinth quickly followed behind, and a couple of moments later, Emmet gently set Liz down onto the bed and covered her with Hyacinth's comforter.

In the following moment, Richard appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, and as soon as Hyacinth saw her husband standing there, she walked over to him.

"The ambulance is on its way," Richard informed Hyacinth.

"Did you tell them to hurry?"

"Yes."

"Good. Elizabeth's really in trouble, Richard. She just lost a terrible amount of blood. I'm so worried. Is there anything we can do? Did they tell you?"

"They said there's nothing we can do to stop a miscarriage. They said that now, the most important thing we can do is to support Elizabeth and try and keep her as comfortable as possible until the ambulance arrives."

"Then that's just what we'll do. Come on," she told him, and Richard gave her a nod and followed her into the bedroom.

"Is the ambulance coming?" Emmet asked.

"They're on their way now," Richard replied.

"I'm so cold," Elizabeth gasped, and Hyacinth walked up to her bedside and put a loving hand on her shoulder. It was in that instant that Hyacinth realized her poor friend was trembling underneath the covers.

"Oh, she's shaking," Hyacinth said while fighting off another onslaught of tears. "Richard, go get some extra blankets," she told him, and off he went. "Emmet, do you know the number of Elizabeth's doctor?"

"Yes."

"Good. Go and call her doctor and inform him of the situation, and tell him to meet us at the hospital. Then call the hospital and let them know we're coming."

"Right," said Emmet, and then he rushed out to the telephone.

Richard then returned with his arms full of blankets, and Hyacinth wasted no time covering Elizabeth with them. Once Liz was settled underneath the pile of blankets, Hyacinth had Richard bring in a chair from the kitchen. As soon as he'd done that, she sat down near Liz and placed a protective hand on the top of her head.

"I'm here, love," Hyacinth whispered. "I'm right here with you now. We're going to get through this." In the next moment, Liz groaned in pain, and Hyacinth gently asked, "Do you want me to help you change positions, honey?"

"No," Liz whispered. "I don't want to move. I just want to lie still."

"Of course, dear. That's just what we'll do. We'll just lie nice and still and quiet until help arrives."

"Okay," Liz said in a very tired sigh, and Hyacinth began lovingly stroking her forehead.

"Rest, Elizabeth," Hyacinth whispered. "I know it's hard, but try to rest and relax as much as you can until the ambulance gets here."

Elizabeth nodded, and Hyacinth just sat there next to her and continued stroking her forehead as they all anxiously waited for the emergency services.


	7. Intervention

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 7: Intervention**

"How much longer could they possibly take?" asked a very worried Hyacinth in the hospital waiting room. "It's been hours."

Hyacinth, Richard, and Emmet had been anxiously waiting for news of Elizabeth for quite a long while now, and Daisy, Onslow, Rose, the vicar, and his wife were all there with them as well.

"Try not to worry so, Hyacinth," Richard kindly told his wife. "I'm sure someone will let us know something soon."

"I just can't believe it," said Daisy sadly. "Liz was doing so well. She was almost at her second trimester, and then this happens."

"This is like reliving a nightmare," Emmet sighed. "I was with Liz when she had her last miscarriage. It was absolutely awful. But what happened this time was even worse. I just can't believe she's going through this again."

Rose dabbed her wet eyes with a tissue then and said, "It's heartbreaking. It's just heartbreaking. Elizabeth's such a wonderful mother to go through all of this for her daughter."

"You know what I hate about all of this?" asked Onslow.

"What?" said Daisy.

"I hate how helpless I feel. Elizabeth's really been going through hell ever since her daughter was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago, and now this happens to her, and there's not a thing any of us can do to make it any better."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Onslow," Emmet agreed. "My sister's really been incredible through this whole thing. She's been so strong for Gail, and for the baby. All her other miscarriages really tore her up. I know this one will, too, and there is nothing in the world I can do about it."

"Being a clergyman, people automatically look to me to have the perfect words to say in times like these," said the vicar. "Unfortunately, I've always come up short in that area. Oh, I can write and preach a nice sermon every Sunday, but when people come up to me and ask me why God allows terrible things like this to happen, I just don't have any answers. Well, not any answers that would give a lot of comfort, anyway. I personally believe that God allows us to experience trials in our lives, even brutally painful trials, to build up character and perseverance in His born-again children through Christ. But even though trials can and do build up character and perseverance in the long-run, the knowledge of that fact doesn't always make things easier in the short-term. I doubt telling Elizabeth something like that would make her feel any better right now."

"Sometimes it's not about having any so-called 'perfect words' to say, Michael," said Rachel. "Sometimes it's simply about…just being there. Sometimes that's all a person really needs from their loved ones. They just need to have someone there who will hold their hand. Someone who will listen. Someone who will give them a hug and a shoulder to cry on."

"How right you are, my darling," Michael said lovingly, and then he took his wife's hand and kissed it.

In that moment, Elizabeth's daughter Gail and her Aunt Maggie came in, and Emmet walked over and met them.

"We got here as soon as we could," said Maggie.

"Uncle Emmet, how's Mum?" asked Gail, who was fighting off tears.

"We don't know yet. The doctors are still with her. Hopefully we'll know something soon."

"Did she _definitely_ lose the baby, or does the baby still have a chance?" Gail inquired.

Emmet shook his head sadly and explained to his young niece, "Your mother lost a very great deal of blood, Gail. I think it's highly unlikely that the baby survived."

"Oh no," said Maggie.

"Poor Mum. This'll really kill her."

"Why don't you both come over here and sit down?" Emmet suggested, and then they nodded and followed him over to where everybody else was sitting.

After sitting together and waiting for about another twenty minutes in complete silence, a short, slim, redheaded lady in scrubs appeared.

"Excuse me," she said. "Are you all with Elizabeth Warden?"

"Yes," Emmet immediately responded, and then he got up from his seat and approached her, and so did all the others. "I'm Emmet Hawksworth, her brother. How is she?"

"Yes, do tell us what is going on," Hyacinth demanded.

"I'm Dr. Adams. Mrs. Warden has been through a terrible ordeal today. She hemorrhaged, which happens sometimes with a miscarriage. She lost a dangerous amount of blood and we had to give her several blood transfusions. Her condition is very serious right now, but not critical. We'll be keeping her in the hospital for at least the next few days or so to keep a close eye on her. If she takes good care of herself and gets plenty of rest, she should make a full recovery, but it'll take several weeks."

"I'll see to it that she does," said Hyacinth.

"Thank you, doctor," Gail said quietly.

"It'll be at least a couple of hours before she'll be up to having visitors," Dr. Adams informed them.

"Very well. We can all leave and come back then," said the vicar.

"You guys can go back home if you want. I'm staying," Gail announced.

"Aunt Maggie, do you want me to take you back to the house?" asked Emmet.

"No thank you, Emmet. I'll stay here with Gail and wait to see Liz."

"I'll stay and wait, too," said Hyacinth.

Everybody else agreed that they would leave and come back later, and after exchanging a bit of small talk with the others, they said goodbye and left, and Dr. Adams left to see to her next patient.

* * *

It was about three hours later that Liz was allowed visitors. Emmet, Gail, and Maggie went in to see her first, but she was still pretty out of it, so they didn't stay with her long. Then Hyacinth and Richard went into Elizabeth's room to see her, and when they did, they were both frightened and heartbroken. Liz looked so weak and fragile, and due to the blood loss, her complexion was as white as the hospital sheets. She had an IV in her arm through which she was receiving yet more blood, and she was buried underneath a pile of hospital blankets.

"Oh, Richard," said Hyacinth as she choked on a sob.

"I know," Richard whispered sadly.

Hyacinth then pulled herself together, walked up to Elizabeth's bedside, sat down in the chair next to the bed, and put a loving hand on top of Elizabeth's head. In that moment, Liz opened her eyes.

"It's me, love," Hyacinth warmly whispered to her friend. "I'm right here with you now, and so is Richard. You just close your eyes and rest now, my sweet girl. Just rest."

"My baby," Liz gasped as tears started streaming down her face, and Hyacinth struggled not to break down and cry with her.

"I know, sweetheart. I know it hurts so badly inside right now. I know. But even though it's hard, please, try not to think about that right now. You mustn't upset yourself now, love. It's very important that you relax and take it easy now."

"I've failed Gail."

"You've done no such thing. None of this was your fault, my dear girl. There are just some things in life that happen that are simply beyond our control. Please, try not to think about it. Not now. Just try to put it all out of your mind and get some rest."

After digging a tissue out of her purse, Hyacinth dried Elizabeth's eyes with it and a couple of moments later, she drifted off to sleep again. A few minutes later, Hyacinth and Richard left her room so she could rest.

* * *

When Hyacinth and Richard made their way back to the hospital lobby on the first floor, they bumped into Gail, Emmet, and Maggie once again. As soon as Hyacinth saw that the young girl had tears in her eyes, her heart really did ache for her.

"Oh, love," Hyacinth said sympathetically, and then she pulled Gail into her arms and gave her a long hug.

As soon as the embrace ended, Gail complained through her tears, "I told Mum she shouldn't go through with this. I told her it was too dangerous to her health to attempt another pregnancy. She could have died so easily. She should have listened to me and just left it alone. Why did she have to be so stubborn?"

Hyacinth responded by tenderly brushing a few loose strands of hair back behind Gail's ear and telling her in a warm voice, "Because your mother loves you more than anything else in the world. Because your life is dearer to her than her own."

Again, Gail broke down and cried, and Hyacinth hugged her a second time. As Hyacinth embraced her, she said, "Oh, sweet girl. I know how worried you are about your mum. You're such a wonderful daughter." In the next moment, their embrace ended, and Hyacinth told her, "Now listen to me, love. You cannot allow yourself to get so upset. You have to take care of your own health, too. Now I want you to go home with your Uncle Emmet and your Aunt Maggie and get something to eat and get some rest. We have to take care of ourselves so we can be strong for Mum, now, don't we?"

Gail nodded, and then Emmet, who was standing right behind them, put his hand on his niece's shoulder and told her gently, "Hyacinth's right, my dear. Your mother's sleeping now. It's best that we go home and let her rest."

Gail nodded a second time, and then Maggie lovingly wrapped her arm around her shoulders and began walking out of the hospital with her. As soon as they left, Emmet turned to Hyacinth for a quick moment and told her seriously, "Thank you for all your help today, Hyacinth."

Hyacinth simply nodded, and after saying goodbye to her and Richard, Emmet turned around and left.

* * *

Naturally, the first thing Hyacinth did when she and Richard got home was to clean the kitchen floor. After she did that, she changed all the bedding. Finally, she cooked supper for Richard and herself, and they ate together at their kitchen table in almost complete silence. It was obvious the day had taken its toll on both of them, Hyacinth especially.

Just as they were finishing up their meal, Hyacinth said quietly, "There was so much blood."

"Yes, but it's all gone now. You got the kitchen looking spotless again," said Richard, trying to sound encouraging.

"That's not what I meant. Elizabeth hemorrhaged, Richard. At her age, it's a miracle this miscarriage didn't kill her. She could have _died_ , Richard. Elizabeth could have died so easily."

"But she didn't. The doctor said that as long as she got plenty of rest and took care of herself, she'd make a full recovery within a few weeks. I know what happened to Liz really scared you. It scared me as well. But she's going to be alright. It's just going to take some time."

"I know. It's just so hard not to worry. Liz still has some frozen embryos left. What if, after she recovers, she tries this again in the hopes of having a child who will be a match for Gail? It could kill her, Richard. Elizabeth could _die_. She really could die if she makes another attempt at a pregnancy."

"Let's not jump to conclusions. We don't know that Elizabeth will necessarily try again to get pregnant once she's recovered."

" _She's a mother,_ Richard. She's not thinking about herself or her own health. The only thing she's thinking about is finding a way to save her daughter, just as any real mother would do. I know that if it were our Sheridan and I had the ability to conceive another child at my age, I would do it in a heartbeat if it would help save his life."

"I hear what you're saying. And I know how worried you are about Elizabeth's well-being. We all are. But at the end of the day, Hyacinth, you have to remember that this is Elizabeth's decision to make. The only thing we can do is just…be there for her, no matter what happens."

Hyacinth said nothing as she nervously drummed her fingers on the table and got lost in her own thoughts.

* * *

A couple of days later, Liz was much more alert and she looked considerably better than she did the day of her miscarriage. Although she still appeared pale, she did have more color in her face now, and she was sitting up in bed talking and interacting with everyone. She was in the middle of a conversation with Michael, Rachel, Onslow, Daisy, and Rose at eleven-thirty that morning when Hyacinth and Richard also arrived at the hospital. They were met in the corridor outside Elizabeth's room by her daughter, brother, and aunt.

"Hello, everyone," Hyacinth said kindly. "How is Liz doing today?"

"Much better, thankfully," Emmet replied.

"She's sitting up and talking," said Maggie. "She really does seem to be a little stronger today."

"I'm very glad to hear it," said Richard.

"I'm glad you're both here. We've been waiting for you. We're about to stage a sort of intervention," Gail announced.

"Intervention?" said Hyacinth.

"You know, Mrs. B. When somebody's struggling with an alcohol or drug addiction, their loved ones can sometimes do what's called an intervention, where they'll all get together, sometimes with a professional counselor, and try to convince them to go to a rehab center or something. Obviously, Mum doesn't have any kind of addiction, but we all know that if she tries to get pregnant again, it could kill her. All of us who love her have no choice but to do an intervention. We've all got to go into Mum's room and make her promise us she'll never attempt anything like this again. We can't allow her to continue playing Russian roulette with her health."

"Gail, I understand how worried you are about your mother," said Richard. "What happened to her the other day scared us all very much. But I'm not sure we have the right to just march into her hospital room and try to force her into making such a personal decision. It's your mother's life, and I think something like this should be her decision, not ours."

Hyacinth shook her head and told her husband, "No, Richard. Gail is right. We cannot just stand idly by and allow Elizabeth to do something that could get her killed. You and I are her friends, Richard. We're more than her friends. We may not be related to her by blood, but Elizabeth is our family. It's our job to look out for her best interests in times like these."

"Hyacinth is right," Emmet chimed in. "And so is Gail. We can't allow Liz to go on playing games with her life like this."

"We certainly can't," Maggie agreed.

"Alright then. We're agreed. We'll go into Elizabeth's room and we'll do this…intervention," Hyacinth announced. "Richard, open the door, please dear."

Although Richard didn't approve, he knew better than to try to go against his wife when she had her mind made up about something, and he quietly, hesitantly opened the door to Elizabeth's room.

* * *

"What is this intervention supposed to be about?" Liz inquired several minutes later as Gail, Emmet, Maggie, Hyacinth, Richard, Daisy, Onslow, the vicar, and his wife all stood together around her hospital bed.

"Mum, this last pregnancy nearly killed you. And because we all love you so much, we can't allow something like that to happen again. Like I just said, we all love you, and we all need you. And nobody needs you now more than I do. Mum, we want you to promise all of us that you'll never try anything like this again."

"You mean another pregnancy?" asked Liz.

"Yes," Gail replied.

"It's far too dangerous, Liz," Emmet told her in a kind but solemn tone of voice. "We nearly lost you. You know sis, sometimes I think you underestimate just how important you really are to all of us."

"You certainly underestimate how important you are to me," Hyacinth gently scolded, and then she took Elizabeth's hand in her own. "But then again, I realize it now that that's mostly my fault. As many people have pointed out to me in recent weeks, I haven't said this to you over the years like I should have, Liz. But I'm saying it now. Elizabeth, you are the kindest neighbor and friend that anybody could ever hope to have. And in fact, you are so much more than just a neighbor and a friend. You're my best friend. And if, God forbid, something had happened to you the other day, it would have been like…well…for me…it would have been just like losing one of my very own sisters," she admitted as a couple of silent tears fell from her eyes.

In that moment, Gail took her mother's other hand, looked deeply into her eyes, and told her, "Mum, you're not just Mrs. Bucket's best friend. You're mine too. Ever since Dad left us to go live in Saudi Arabia, it's always been you and me against the world. People always say that parents can't be their children's friends, but that's never been the case with you and me. Oh yeah, sure, there have been times over the years when you had to lay down the law with me and discipline me, just like every parent has to do with their child, but there was never a moment when you weren't there for me. I could always come to you and talk to you about anything. There was never a single detail of my life that was too insignificant to hear about. Every moment of every day, you always made me feel so loved."

Liz responded by releasing Hyacinth's hand and tenderly stroking her daughter's cheek.

"And I can't imagine my life without you," Gail continued. "Mum, if I had to choose to either die young or to stand by and let you give up your life to save mine, I would choose to die young. You have to promise us all that you'll never attempt another pregnancy again. If it's going to hurt you like this, it just isn't worth it."

"Gail, honey, I know this whole thing frightened you, but you really don't have to worry. I'm fine," Liz insisted.

"And we want to keep you that way," said Hyacinth. "Now listen to me. All of you. There are not going to be any more miscarriages." She then locked her eyes with Gail's, took Gail's hand, and pointedly said, "And _nobody_ is going to die young. _Nobody._ I know there's somebody out there in the world who's a match for this wonderful young lady of ours, and I know it'll be difficult, but one way or another, _we will find him._ I'll organize more bone marrow donor drives. I'll organize drives right and left. If I have to, I'll have every person in England tested. So Liz, I don't want you to try anything like this again. If you won't agree not to do this again for your own sake and for the sake of your health, then do it for the sake of your priceless daughter who loves you and needs you."

In that moment, Gail held her mother's gaze with her matching blue eyes and said, "Please, Mum."

After several long silent moments, Elizabeth finally said, "Okay, honey. No more pregnancy attempts. I promise."

Nearly everyone in the room sighed a sigh of relief in that instant as Gail gave her mother a very long hug. When their embrace ended, Hyacinth kissed the top of Elizabeth's head.

"I meant what I said, love," Hyacinth told her gently. "From this moment forward, everybody in this room is going to work together and we're going to work our fingers to the bone, and one way or another, we are going to find your Gail the bone marrow donor that she needs. We're a team. All of us." Hyacinth then put her hands on top of Elizabeth's and said, "Get in here, everybody." Gail leaned in a moment later and put her hands on top of Hyacinth's, and everyone else in the room followed suit, and soon, there was a mountain of hands piled one on top of the other. "Team on three, alright? One. Two. Three."

"Team!" everyone said aloud.

* * *

Over the next eight weeks, Hyacinth remained true to her word, and she organized countless donor drives for Gail at the church, the park, and various other venues. As she said, Hyacinth really did work her fingers to the bone, and she got everybody else to as well. When Liz was fully recovered from her miscarriage, she worked equally hard, albeit under Hyacinth's watchful and protective eye. Hyacinth frequently scolded Elizabeth whenever she felt that she was working too hard and tiring herself out. Unfortunately, even though hundreds of people were tested, no one was a compatible bone marrow donor for Gail.

When Hyacinth invited Liz over for afternoon tea one day, Liz was able to open up to Hyacinth in ways she never could have in the past. She was still enduring the grief and emotional turmoil of her miscarriage for one thing, and for another, she was quite depressed and discouraged because no one from all their donor drives had been a match, and she simply needed a good shoulder to cry on. In the past, Hyacinth really hadn't cared about anybody except herself and she never would have taken the time to really listen to Liz and be there for her, but now, that was exactly what she did. Hyacinth did still have a streak of arrogance running through her and there was a pretty big part of her inside that still basically believed that she was God's gift to the world, but she really was being a much better friend to Elizabeth now. When she came over that day, Hyacinth actually _listened_ to her and let her have a good cry, and then she tried to encourage her as best she could.

Later on that evening after Hyacinth and Richard had eaten supper, Richard walked into the lounge and saw something he never expected to see: Hyacinth sitting on the settee, reading the Bible.

"Hyacinth, is that the Bible you're reading?" asked a surprised Richard.

"It is."

"Why?"

Hyacinth looked up at her husband then and told him, "If you must know, Richard, I'm looking for answers."

"Answers to what?"

"Everyone knows that Elizabeth has her drawbacks. When it comes to social entertaining, she is hopelessly inept. She could never dream of reaching my standards as a hostess. She is so remarkably clumsy that it's downright painful to watch her at times. But in spite of all that, Elizabeth really is a caring and gentle person. Lord knows she's a wonderful mother. When Liz came over today for tea, she was in so much pain because of the loss of her baby. The word 'pain' isn't even enough to describe it. She was in _agony_ inside. She didn't deserve this, Richard. Elizabeth may have her faults, but she didn't deserve to lose yet another baby like this. That's why I'm searching for answers. I'm hoping God will let me find something, _anything_ , to help me understand why this had to happen."

With a kind nod, Richard said, "I understand, Hyacinth. I think I'll go take a walk for a little while and let you do your searching in private."

"Very well, dear," said Hyacinth, and then Richard bent down and kissed her on the forehead and left.

* * *

When Richard returned about an hour later, much to his surprise, he heard Hyacinth sobbing in the lounge. Two months earlier, Gail, Hyacinth, and everybody else had staged an 'intervention' of sorts to try to save Elizabeth's health and life by convincing her to never attempt another pregnancy again. Tonight, God, Himself had staged an intervention of His own to save Hyacinth's very soul, and He did it with one single sentence.

Richard quickly walked into the lounge, sat down on the settee beside his wife, lovingly put his hand on her shoulder, and asked, "Hyacinth, what is it? What's the matter?"

With tears streaming down her cheeks, an utterly _devastated_ Hyacinth looked at Richard and replied, "I found my answers, Richard. I know why Elizabeth lost her baby two months ago."

"What answers did you find?"

"Proverbs eighteen verse twenty-one. It says, 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.'"

"I'm sorry, Hyacinth. I don't understand. What does that verse in Proverbs have to do with Elizabeth losing her baby?"

"Richard, it's all my fault. Elizabeth lost her baby because of me."

"I still don't understand. How could you possibly get the idea from that verse that you had anything at all to do with Elizabeth's miscarriage?"

"Think, Richard. Given Elizabeth's age and her history of miscarriages, her baby was already in fragile condition when she came back home after her stay in London. The last thing in the world she needed was for someone to hurt her or upset her in any way. The very last thing on earth she needed was for someone to cause her even more stress than she was already experiencing with her worries about Gail's leukemia. And when she came back and I found out about her pregnancy, what was the very first thing I did? I acted like a childish, pathetic fool. I opened my big mouth and said stupid, ridiculous, hurtful things about Liz that I knew the whole time weren't true, and I caused her a great amount of emotional pain and stress. And just nine days later, Elizabeth lost her baby. It's no coincidence that while I've been sitting here tonight, searching the Scriptures for answers about Elizabeth's miscarriage, I found where it says in Proverbs that death and life are in the power of the tongue. _It was me,_ Richard. Elizabeth's miscarriage wasn't God's fault. _It was my fault._ Elizabeth's poor, innocent little baby died because of _me_ , Richard. Because of _my stupidity and my big mouth._ Elizabeth's baby _died_ because of _my stupid, insensitive, cruel words._ Oh, dear Lord, I don't know if I can take this. What have I done, Richard? What have I done?" Hyacinth asked while leaning over into Richard's arms and breaking down into even more sobs.

"Hyacinth, listen to me," Richard said gently while his wife was crying, even shaking in his arms. "You do have your faults. You can often be a very trying person to live with. But you are _not_ responsible for Elizabeth's miscarriage."

After having a good long cry for about the next ten minutes, Hyacinth finally wiped her eyes with a tissue, sat up straight again, and managed to compose herself. Then she looked Richard in the eye and asked him, "Richard, are you God? Are you a doctor? Are you any kind of medical professional?"

"No."

"Is there really any possible way that you can look at me and tell me with absolute certainty that my wagging my venomous tongue and unfairly accusing Elizabeth of adultery that night had nothing at all to do with her miscarriage? Can you tell me with one hundred percent certainty that the extra stress I caused Liz had absolutely nothing to do with her losing her baby?"

A couple of silent moments passed until finally, Richard told Hyacinth in a sorrowful tone, "No, I can't. I can't tell you that with one hundred percent certainty. However, I honestly don't believe for a moment that what happened to Liz was your fault. You said it yourself. Her baby was in fragile condition. It was a high-risk pregnancy, especially considering Elizabeth's age and all her previous miscarriages. Hyacinth, I really do believe that it would have happened anyway, regardless of anything you said or did."

"But there's no way you can be one hundred percent sure of that, is there?"

"No, there isn't."

"So that means that it _is_ possible that Elizabeth's baby died because of my arrogance and my hurtful words. It is entirely possible that the extra stress I caused Elizabeth by my cruel words that night was the straw that broke the camel's back, in a manner of speaking."

"Hyacinth, there's no way to know what ultimately causes a miscarriage. You can't torment yourself like this."

"You know what's so ironic about this? Even though I was the one who made that terrible accusation against Elizabeth, I never believed for a minute that she was guilty of having an affair with another man. Deep down inside, I knew better than that. I didn't mean it, Richard. I just said it. And I've been sitting here tonight asking myself, 'Hyacinth, _why_ did you say what you did about Elizabeth that night?' And I've realized the truth. The truth is, Richard, you married an unbelievably selfish, shallow, mean-spirited snake. I said what I did about Liz that night because I wanted to talk badly about her so I would look so much better in comparison and feel good about myself. That's it. That's the cold, hard truth. I wasn't thinking about another soul on planet Earth that night other than _me._ When I first heard that Elizabeth was pregnant, it never once dawned on me to be concerned about her or her baby. It never _once_ crossed my mind that this was a high-risk pregnancy for Liz and that I should be looking out for her and for the innocent little life that she was carrying. No, the only thing I was concerned about that night was _my ego._ Oh Richard, until tonight, I had no idea what a horrible, ruthless person I could be. And that's not even the worst part."

"What is the worst part?"

"The consequences of it all, not for myself, but for poor Elizabeth and her daughter. Richard, that baby could have been a compatible bone marrow donor for Gail. And if the baby was a match for Gail, and if we cannot find her another match in enough time…" Hyacinth said as she began to sob once again.

"Hyacinth–"

"It'll all be my fault," she continued once she caught her breath. "It'll be not just one but _two_ lives lost, all because I had to be stupid and selfish and open my big mouth. Oh Richard, maybe I did want to make myself feel like I was above Elizabeth, but I had no idea that saying what I did would lead to something like this. I had no idea simple words could cause such pain and destruction. I was so very cruel and wrong to make false accusations against Elizabeth just so I would feel better about myself, but I honestly didn't mean to hurt anyone. Not like this. Oh Richard, what am I supposed to do now? How can I possibly fix this? How can I possibly make this right again?"

 _Oh Jesus, what am I supposed to tell her?_ Richard prayed silently within his own thoughts.

 _Let Me break her_ , a familiar, instinctive voice from his gut, the still, small voice of the Lord, Himself that had guided him for years, answered. _Don't try to talk her out of what she's feeling. Her heart has become very hard over the years because of her pride. The only way she'll ever come to Me is if she's broken. Allowing Me to break her is in fact the only way to save her._

Richard then closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and let out a long sigh. In the next moment, he looked his wife in the eyes and told her in the kindest way possible, "There are some things in this life, Hyacinth, that you just can't fix, no matter how badly you want to. There are some times when you basically have no choice but to let go and let God. Sometimes we make messes, even big and terrible messes, that we just cannot clean up on our own."

Unable to say another word, Hyacinth simply collapsed into her husband's arms and broke down crying once again.

* * *

"After that night last week," Hyacinth said tearfully to the vicar and his wife at the vicarage eight days later, "it all just started hitting me so hard. All these years, I've been so arrogant towards everyone. So cold. When Emmet said to me the night Liz returned that the only person I truly cared about was me, he was telling the truth. Every moment of every day, the only thing I've ever cared about was my social position. Impressing the upper class. Impressing the aristocracy. Trying to convince everyone around me that I was something more than what I really was. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, those were the only thoughts that ever entered my mind. I never felt an ounce of concern for the well-being of the people around me. I only cared about trying to convince myself and others that I was above everybody else. For the majority of my life, _that_ has been my one and only concern. For years, I ended up dragging Elizabeth and my poor husband into my silly, crazy schemes to try and climb the social ladder, and sometimes, it was even funny. Sometimes the craziest things happened and when I look back on it, it actually gives me a good laugh.

"But this time, it's different. Now, it's not funny anymore," Hyacinth said sadly as even more tears streamed down her cheeks. "Even though we cannot know for certain why Elizabeth lost her baby, there is a possibility, a very _real_ possibility, that my cruel, hurtful words are at least partly to blame. It could very well be that the extra stress I caused her because of my big mouth, in conjunction with everything else she and Gail were already going through, resulted in her miscarriage. The Bible is right. Death and life _are_ in the power of the tongue. It wasn't until now, after all these years, that I've _finally_ realized that not just my careless actions, but also _my careless words_ , do have very real consequences – even _deadly_ consequences – for other people besides myself. Because I had to be so childish and selfish, and foolishly open my mouth that night without thinking, I may very well have played a role in the death of an innocent baby – _my best friend's_ baby. I always said that I was a Christian; that mine and Richard's household was a Christian household. But I see it now that I was merely pretending all this time. I really _don't_ know Jesus. Not like I should. I know I need forgiveness but how could Jesus possibly want anything to do with me after what I've done?"

"Hyacinth, do you know why the Gospel is called the good news?" Michael asked her kindly.

"Why?"

"Because anyone, and I do mean _anyone_ , who wants to come to Jesus and accept the gift of salvation that He purchased for humanity on the cross, can. _Nobody_ loves to forgive more than Jesus does. Of that, I can assure you."

"What do I have to do?"

"Believe. Trust in the perfect, _finished_ work of Jesus Christ, His sacrifice on the cross, as payment for your sins. Accept His undeserved gift of salvation."

"It can't be that simple."

The vicar laughed and admitted, "I know where you're coming from. For a long time, I couldn't accept the truth of the gospel either, because I felt it was too simple; too good to be true. But God never made salvation complicated. It's human beings who go in and complicate things. Far too often within the Christian church today, professing Christians make the mistake of combining salvation and discipleship, and as a result, they end up preaching a dangerous false gospel based on our works; based on what _we_ do instead of what _Jesus_ did. However, salvation and discipleship are two entirely different things. Salvation is free, and we can receive it through the grace of God by believing in His only begotten Son. Discipleship, on the other hand, is very costly. Jesus said that those who wanted to be His disciples had to carry their crosses and follow Him. In order to be _saved_ from your sins, from an eternity in hell, all you have to do is trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross. After you've done that, you have a choice to make. You can choose to spend the rest of your life serving Jesus as one of His disciples, out of gratitude for what He's done for you, or you can choose to continue living solely to please yourself. But once you've accepted the free gift of salvation, there are no works you can do to add to it to make it more complete. You don't do good works to prove or maintain your salvation, nor do good works automatically follow salvation. If they did, there wouldn't have been a need for much of the New Testament to be written. Born-again believers wouldn't have needed to be exhorted and encouraged to do good works and live Godly lives if it was automatic; they would have already been doing that on their own. But anyway, the point is, if you choose to do good works in Christ's name, it must always be out of gratitude, never to try to earn or hold onto your salvation. You don't need to worry about holding onto your salvation. Jesus took care of that. Every other false religion in the world involves some sort of system where people try to do enough good works to outweigh the bad and therefore earn themselves a place in heaven. What makes true Christianity different is that it acknowledges that people _cannot ever_ do enough good works to make themselves good enough to satisfy God's standards of perfection. True Christianity acknowledges that Jesus Christ went to the cross to do for us what we _couldn't_ do for ourselves. Do you understand, Hyacinth?"

After a short contemplative silence, Hyacinth replied, "I think I do. I just know that I really need two things right now. I need God to forgive me for what I've done to Elizabeth and for what I've put other people through all this time, and I need God to help me change. If my foolish ways could do something so damaging as to contribute to my best friend losing her baby, what else could happen? All these years, I never really believed I was hurting anybody, but now I see the truth. Behaving the way I've behaved through the years really does have consequences, even deadly consequences. I cannot allow this to go on."

In that moment, the vicar made eye contact with Hyacinth and asked her, "Hyacinth, do you trust in Jesus Christ to forgive you for every sin you've ever committed and every sin you ever will commit for the rest of your life? Do you accept the free gift of salvation that He sacrificed Himself on that cross to give to you so that He could pay the full penalty of your sins in the eyes of a just and holy God?"

"Yes," Hyacinth gasped as more tears fell from her eyes, and then the vicar and his wife looked at each other and gave one another a knowing smile. In the following moments, Hyacinth Bucket began to experience a kind of peace she never could have imagined before. Hyacinth just broke down and had a good cry, and Michael and Rachel simply sat with her and let her cry for as long as she needed to.

"Hyacinth, I want you to understand that you have just said yes to the most precious gift a human being could ever possibly hope to receive," said Michael a little while later. "You just said yes to eternal life."

"And He really has forgiven me for everything I've done – including what I did to Elizabeth and her baby?"

"Yes. Though your sins have been like scarlet, now, in the eyes of the Almighty God, they are as white as snow. Because you have accepted the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf as payment for your sins, your sins are no more. In God's eyes, it's as if you've never sinned."

"I'm so grateful for that, but even though I'm clean in God's eyes now, it doesn't change the fact that Elizabeth is still suffering because of me. How can I possibly make that right? How can I undo the damage of what I've caused?"

"You can't. Not completely. But thankfully, God can. God works everything, even our worst sins and our biggest mistakes, together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."

"I'd like to chime in here for a minute," said Rachel.

"Of course, darling," said Michael.

"Hyacinth, I just want to say that I personally do not believe that God was necessarily trying to tell you that you were to blame for Elizabeth's miscarriage. Liz already has a history of miscarriages, and I don't think it's very likely that anything you said or did would have made that much difference. I've been a homemaker ever since Michael and I got married, but before that, I worked as an OB nurse and a midwife, and I've seen women go through miscarriages. When a mother loses her baby, so often, she'll blame herself and cause herself so much needless pain when in fact, there's really nothing she could have done about it. I know I can't speak for God, but just in my own opinion, I believe that God was simply trying to warn you about the grave power that words can carry. I know from experience that words actually can kill. When my sister and I were teenagers, she had a verbally and emotionally abusive boyfriend. Every single day, he said the cruelest things to her and cut her down and destroyed her spirit. Eventually, she became so depressed that she actually committed suicide. He basically killed her with his words. But in your case with Elizabeth, I think it's different. Yes, what you did was very petty and hurtful, but I doubt it caused Liz so much stress that it made her lose her baby. If I may be very blunt with you, Hyacinth, it's been kind of an unwritten rule around here for a long time now to never take you too seriously, and nobody understood that better than Liz. I know Liz was hurt by the things you said, but to be painfully honest, I don't believe she was surprised. And I don't think she allowed it to bother her too much. I don't mean this harshly, but I feel I really must tell you the truth, here. And the truth is, we've all had to learn through the years to simply allow your behavior to roll off our backs and to not let it get to us. In my own opinion, I believe that God was simply trying to make you aware that your words and your behavior can have a negative impact on other people. I believe He was simply trying to get your attention and make you think, _really think_ , about the way you treat others. If a person goes on acting selfishly and spewing out cruel words to other people, it really _can_ lead to death sometimes, and I think God simply wanted to bring that fact to your attention. Again, just in my own opinion, I don't think that God was trying to blame Elizabeth's miscarriage on you. I think He was simply trying to make you aware of the fact that backstabbing others with your words _does_ have the _potential_ to cause death."

"That's an excellent point, Rachel," Michael told his wife. "And I agree."

"Hyacinth, may I ask you a personal question?" asked Rachel.

"Of course."

"Why has it always been so important to you to be accepted by the aristocracy and the upper class? Why has it always been so important to you to convince other people that you're above them?"

"I don't know," Hyacinth replied with a weary sigh. "When I was young, I was always the object of ridicule. I was that lower-class girl from that poor neighborhood living in an embarrassingly dilapidated house. And as if that wasn't bad enough, my father–" Hyacinth began to say, but then she immediately stopped herself.

Sensing what Hyacinth was about to say, Rachel knowingly inquired, "Your father abused you when you were a child, didn't he?"

After a long silence, Hyacinth finally replied, "That's not something I will ever discuss."

Michael and Rachel looked at one another for a brief moment and Michael gave his wife an understanding nod.

"What I _will_ say," Hyacinth continued, "is that between the other kids at school making fun of me and all the unspeakable things my father did to me, I went through the first twenty years of my life feeling like used toilet tissue. Every day as I was growing up, I swore to myself that there would come a time when I would really stand out, not because I was poor, lower-class, or abused, _but because I was something really special._ "

"Hyacinth, you were _always_ something really special," Rachel said kindly. "Not because of how much money you and your husband have. Not because of your Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles or your white slimline telephone. Not because of your candlelight suppers or your efforts to be the perfect hostess or what other people think of your social status. You are now and you always have been something really special _because the Almighty God created you._ You are a unique creation of the Lord God, Himself. There is only _one_ Hyacinth Bucket on this entire planet. There is not another soul in the entire human population like you. And if you want to truly become a great person, a person worthy of respect and admiration, you have to do the very opposite of what you have been doing for most of your life.

"Think about it. No one is more respected than Jesus Christ, and look at the example He set for humanity. He never once cared about how much money people had or didn't have. As a matter of fact, Jesus spent most of His time with the very people you've always looked down upon. He spent time with society's outcasts and rejects. He spent time with and loved the lepers and the poor and the sick and the demon-possessed and the tax collectors and the prostitutes. The religious leaders of His time, the Pharisees, people who were often looked up to in the community, actually dared to criticize the Lord because He spent time with 'sinners.' The Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, actually washed His disciples' feet. Think about that, Hyacinth. The Almighty God Himself, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, washed His disciples' feet. You can't get any more upper-class or royal than Jesus Christ, the ultimate King, and yet when He was on the earth, He lived His life as a servant. He lived to serve and care for others. He even went so far as to endure the cruelest, most humiliating form of death imaginable, to save us all from our sins. Jesus is love, itself. And it's not wealth or having a title or being a member of the aristocracy that makes a person great and worthy of respect in the sight of God. It's living as Jesus lived. It's humbling yourself and spending your life serving others and caring for others and putting others' needs above your own. _That_ is the true meaning of greatness."

Hyacinth remained lost in thought for several long moments, and then eventually she looked at the vicar and his wife and told them quietly, "Thank you. Thank you both. You've given me an awful lot to think about."

Hyacinth, Michael, and Rachel talked for about ten more minutes, and then after exchanging the usual pleasantries, they said goodbye and Hyacinth took a cab home. During the short ride back to her house, Hyacinth remained in very deep thought over everything that had just happened at the vicarage. She knew she would have to stop and just take everything in and really digest it all. Hyacinth wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but she _was_ sure of one thing: something was different inside her. Something was very, _very_ different.


	8. I Want to Know You

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 8: I Want to Know You**

Inside the lounge of the tiny London flat that twenty-year-old Sheridan Bucket shared with his roommate Tarquin, Tarquin and several friends stood around in the background in utter silence as Sheridan picked up the telephone and called home. In the next moment, Sheridan put the call on speaker, and everybody listened intently to each ring, waiting with baited breath for Sheridan's "mumster" to answer.

On the third ring, the powerful voice they all knew so well answered, "The Bouquet residence. Lady of the house speaking."

With a glint of mischief in his hazel eyes, Sheridan responded, "Hello, Mummy."

"Sheridan! How very delightful to hear from you, dear. How are you?"

"I'm well, Mummy. I need a hundred pounds," Sheridan shamelessly announced as a series of snickers and soft giggles broke out in the room.

"You need a hundred pounds," Hyacinth repeated, obviously less than pleased.

"That's right, Mummy. I need a hundred pounds. You see, Tarquin and I are going to a costume party in three weeks, and we're making our own costumes, and we need to buy plenty of pink material because Tarquin's going as Snow White and I'm going as Cinderella!" Sheridan _proudly_ explained as Tarquin and all their friends in the background were now literally _crying_ tears of laughter and struggling not to make too much noise with all their giggling.

"Sheridan, I'm not sure that's appropriate, dear," Hyacinth said hesitantly.

"Just think of it, Mummy. We're going all dressed up as royalty! We're bound to stand out at that costume party. We'll fit in perfectly with Lady Whitfield."

"Lady Whitfield?"

"Yes. Tarquin and I met her last week and she invited us to the party. She's the daughter of an earl. We all agreed that we're going as princesses together. She's going as Sleeping Beauty."

"The daughter of an earl. How wonderful. You must send me pictures of her at the party. It's the kind of event the neighbors will love to hear about, I'm sure. I'll have Daddy send the money in the post, dear. Good-byyyye."

"Goodbye, Mummy," Sheridan responded, and then he hung up the receiver. The instant he did that, the whole room erupted in an explosion of raucous laughter.

"Man, Sheridan, I think that one was your best one yet!" said Jason Thomas, a handsome, tall, slim, blonde-haired, blue-eyed former classmate of Sheridan's.

"That one just might be even better than the time when Sheridan told his mum that he and Tarquin needed four hundred pounds so they could go to Iceland on a walking holiday and write poetry together!" said Heather Adams, a nineteen-year-old brunette and a good friend of Sheridan's and Tarquin's.

"That one was gold," said Ben Locke, a slim black senior at the poly, and another one of their friends. "That one was sheer comedy gold. I never will forget it."

"Just think of it: _me_ of all people as Snow White!" said Tarquin, who was heavyset, muscular, and black, whose complexion was in fact very dark. Naturally when Tarquin said that, everybody cracked up once again. "The day I show up at a costume party as Snow White is the day I decide to shovel horse manure for a living!"

"Sheridan, I've just got to tell you this: you are _such_ a horrible person!" said Heather, and again, everybody laughed out loud.

"Well, when you're _raised_ by a horrible person, that's what you get: another horrible person," Sheridan told her, halfway as a joke, and halfway being serious.

"You know Sheridan, when we first became friends a couple of years ago and you told me about the way your mother had treated you and your father all your life, I just couldn't wrap my mind around it," said Tarquin. "I thought to myself, 'Come on! _Nobody_ can possibly be _that_ clueless about the world around them!' And then you came up with this crazy idea of yours to act like you were gay every time you called your mother, and to let me listen in on the conversation. You told her that you wanted fifty pounds so you could make your own curtains and that I had prizes for embroidery, and all she said was, 'How inventive!' She literally had no clue whatsoever. I died laughing."

"So did I. You _have_ to laugh about all the clueless narcissists in the world like my mumster because if you don't laugh, you'll cry. And maybe I am being a horrible person by letting you guys hear for yourselves just how clueless Mum really is and letting you all get a good laugh out of it, but all in all, you have to agree that in the end, I'm just giving Mum what she wants. Mum never wanted a son. She always wanted a daughter. And all my life, she's been trying to change me from a guy to a girl. So when I do my little act with the mumster over the telephone, I'm just being the one thing she wants in life the most: Mummy's Little Girl."

Everybody laughed kind of sadly then, truly feeling bad for Sheridan, and Jason slapped him on the back and told him, "Hang in there, Sheridan. It'll get better one of these days."

"Actually, I disagree," Heather chimed in. "You all know I'm studying psychology, and personally, I think it's painfully obvious that Mrs. Bucket has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and narcissists never get better. Most of the time, they only get worse. And yes, Sheridan, when you get us all together and you call your mum up and we listen and hear for ourselves how clueless she is, it can be hilarious. However, I think that this is actually an unhealthy cycle you've gotten yourself caught up in. We all know that you dropped out of your classes last year and you haven't told your parents yet, and we also know that you're scamming them out of money to help supplement the tiny income you make selling your paintings. But Sheridan, I don't think that's the answer. You're twenty years-old. You're not a child anymore, and you cannot use your mother's terrible behavior throughout your childhood as an excuse forever. You're an adult now, and as an adult, it's time for you to become financially independent. No amount of money is worth you continuing to expose yourself to your mother's insanity. According to all the experts, the only way to deal with a narcissist like your mother is to go no-contact."

"Not so fast, Heather," said Ben. "I do agree that the vast majority of narcissists are beyond hope. However, I don't believe that about Mrs. Bucket. I think that ninety to ninety-five percent of all narcissists can't be saved, but I do believe there's a very small percentage of people who are in fact low enough on the spectrum that they _can_ come back to humanity."

"What makes you so sure that Mrs. Bucket can come back?" asked Tarquin.

"Because I've dealt with narcissists in my life that made Sheridan's mumster look like an angel in comparison. I'm talking about people who will beat and rape their own children, and when their children are crying tears of agony and they beg their DNA donors to stop hurting them, they only hit them harder and rape them more. I'm talking about people who play mind games with their spouses and children and cut them down constantly with their words because they _enjoy_ seeing the people they claim to love the most hurt and suffer. I'm talking about people who take pleasure in abusing their families physically, sexually, verbally, and emotionally behind closed doors, who _literally_ get emotional highs out of their family's suffering _._ _Those_ are the kind of people that can't come back. Now yes, Sheridan, I do realize that your mum did a lot of damage to you inside all those years that she kept trying to change you into a girl, but as bad as all of that was, it could have been so much worse. And even though she really has done you wrong, I do believe that she does love you and does get concerned about you. I know she's made a lot of mistakes that have hurt you badly through the years, but there's a world of difference between a parent who hurts their child by making mistakes and a DNA donor who hurts their child on purpose and takes pleasure in their child's pain. Even though your mother has caused you a lot of pain, I've listened to enough of your conversations to get the feeling that she honestly never _means_ to hurt you. We laugh about how clueless she is, but it's the truth. Your mother really is a clueless woman. I don't think she really understands what she's doing to you and to all the other people around her. There's a difference between cruelty and stupidity. Your mother's stupid, Sheridan, but I don't believe she's ever intentionally cruel. She just wants to live in an imaginary world where she's some kind of queen or something. She doesn't actually _want_ to harm people. I know better than anybody how hurtful it can be to grow up under the same roof as a narcissist, but I really do believe there's hope for your mother."

"I do agree with Heather about one thing, though," said Tarquin. " _It is_ high time that you grew the heck up and started accepting responsibility for your own life yourself. You need to stop lying to your parents and manipulating them into sending you money, Sheridan. You're not even in college anymore so your parents are no longer obligated to support you. Grow up. Be a man _._ Get a job."

"Hear, hear!" said Jason while all the others laughed at Sheridan. Meanwhile, Sheridan rolled his eyes at his friends and decided to go out for a walk.

* * *

One morning a couple of weeks later, as Hyacinth was standing with Richard in the kitchen, she simply looked into his eyes and told him very seriously, "I'm sorry, Richard. I am so very sorry."

"Sorry for what?" asked Richard.

"Everything. For so much of our marriage, I have been so self-centered. I've disrespected you countless times, in countless ways. I stopped listening to you. I stopped showing you love and I stopped giving you companionship. I stopped thinking about your feelings and your needs a long time ago, and for so many years, I've just basically been walking all over you. A couple of days after I said those terrible things about Elizabeth at the church hall, you sat down in front of me right here in this very kitchen and you told me that I'd morphed into a childish, self-centered, entitled, spoiled brat, and you were right. You were absolutely right. All this time, I've been treating you more like a servant than a husband. And I can't even begin to apologize enough."

"Hyacinth…what's happened to you?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. It's almost like…my heart has been asleep all these years, totally unaware of what was going on in the real world around me, and now, it's been slowly waking up and coming back to reality. I think God has been using Elizabeth's situation to begin waking me up again. And ever since I spoke with the vicar and his wife at the vicarage a couple of weeks ago and I said yes to Jesus, things have just been so…different inside my mind. All these memories keep coming back to me, memories of things I've said and done to others, to you more than anyone else…and I'm beginning to understand how wrong it all was. I see now how selfish I've been; what a bully I've been," Hyacinth admitted as tears filled her eyes. "All these years, I've been using you and others for my own self-serving agenda. I've been walking all over everybody, and people have been too good-natured to say anything. And I don't believe there's anyone I've hurt more through the years than you. I want to make it up to you, Richard. How do I start?"

It took Richard several moments to recover inside from the utter shock of what Hyacinth was actually saying to him. He'd been waiting, hoping, and praying for _years_ for this moment to come, and now that it finally had, he found himself too stunned to say anything. However, that soon passed and when it did, he looked into his wife's eyes and told her honestly, " _Start listening to me._ One of the things that has hurt me the most through the years has been the fact that _you never really listen to me._ When I try to tell you things that I'm worried about or when I try to tell you that you're getting the both of us into something that I don't like, _you don't listen._ Whenever I try to share my opinion or my feelings about _anything_ under the sun, really, _you never listen._ You never take my viewpoint seriously. It's as if my thoughts and feelings have never been as important as yours, and that's always hurt."

"I'm sorry, Richard," Hyacinth said truthfully to her husband as even more tears filled her eyes. "I'm so very sorry. I know you're right. I know I haven't taken your feelings and your needs seriously like I should have. For so much of our marriage, I've always made everything about me. I know that has to change. _It will change_ , Richard. I promise you. Tell me, love. What else do you need from me?"

"Connection. Hyacinth, back when we were young and we fell in love and got married, you and I really _connected_ with one another emotionally. We genuinely shared our thoughts and our lives. We talked to each other about what was really going on inside of us, and we really listened to each other. We laughed together. We cried together. We actually touched and gave each other hugs and kisses and affection like other married couples do. We never really enjoy that connection anymore."

Hyacinth nodded and told her husband, "I understand what you're saying. And I'll begin remedying that right here and now."

She then put her arms around Richard and gave him the longest, warmest hug, and even though she wasn't very big on kissing, she kissed the man she loved the most with all the strength and passion she could muster.

* * *

Over the following week, Hyacinth did a complete one-eighty in her relationship with Richard. For the first time in so very long, she actually did take the time to truly _listen_ to her husband when he wanted to share his thoughts and opinions with her. She also began showering him with long-overdue tenderness and affection. She started doing a number of loving, thoughtful things such as bringing him breakfast in bed and leaving little notes on his pillow telling him she loved him.

One morning in late March, after Richard was finished eating his breakfast in bed, Hyacinth said, "Richard, I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

Richard, sitting up in bed, gave his wife a big smile, set the breakfast tray aside, and patted the bedside. Hyacinth sat down on Richard's side of the bed a moment later and said, "Richard, I'd appreciate it very much if you'd do something for me. But just for the record, I want to say that this is _not_ an order of any kind. I'm not _ordering_ you to do this. I'm _asking_ you."

Richard squeezed Hyacinth's hand, gave her a warm smile, and said happily, "Ask away my dear."

"When I talked with Michael and Rachel about this some time ago, they basically said the same thing that you did, that I shouldn't blame myself for Elizabeth's miscarriage. They told me that God wasn't necessarily trying to say that Elizabeth losing her baby was my fault; that He simply could have been trying to warn me of the grave power that words can carry. That might be true, but knowing that there's even the slightest chance that it could have been my fault is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Elizabeth is my friend, my _best_ friend, and even though I never said it over the years the way I should have, I love her dearly. However, that being said, I am grateful that she left three weeks ago to go spend some time with her daughter and her aunt in London. I don't think there's any way I could possibly face her now."

"I understand what you're saying, but I don't think you should beat up on yourself like this."

"After the way I've treated everyone around me for so many years, my ego could probably use a good beating. But that's beside the point. My point is, everything that has happened with Elizabeth has made me painfully aware of the potential effect that words can have on people. And no one has been more impacted by my stupid words and my selfish behavior over the years than you have. Nowadays, doctors and scientists are saying that if a person isn't in a healthy state mentally or emotionally, it can cause him to have problems with his physical health. I've treated you very unfairly for many years, Richard. After what happened with Elizabeth, I'm very concerned that my behavior may have also had a negative impact on your health, and I want to make absolutely certain that you're alright. If it's alright with you, I'd like very much for you to go to the doctor for a check-up."

As soon as Hyacinth said that, Richard laughed and said, "Hyacinth, you really do worry too much. I'm perfectly fine. But if it'll make you feel better, I'll go in for a physical."

"Thank you, dear," said Hyacinth.

Touched by Hyacinth's concern for him, Richard told her kindly, "You come here." He then pulled her into his arms and she rested her head on his chest, and he tenderly kissed her forehead.

* * *

Two days later, Richard was given a clean bill of health from his doctor, which really put Hyacinth's mind at ease. But not long after that, she became greatly worried about another family matter that had started overtaking her thoughts: the way she'd treated Sheridan.

"There's something going on with Sheridan, Richard," she told him at the kitchen table one April afternoon over lunch. "The last time we spoke a few weeks ago, he claimed he needed money to make clothes for a costume party. To be more precise, he said that he'd run into a young lady who was the daughter of an earl, and that he and Tarquin planned to go to a costume party with her, with all of them dressed as princesses. But there was something in Sheridan's voice. Almost a kind of malice in a way. I've noticed it the last few times he's called. My gut tells me there's something deeper going on with Sheridan that he's not telling us. And I think you and I need to get to the bottom of it."

Richard nodded and said, "I think you're right. Maybe I ought to go and pay him a visit this weekend."

"I think that would be best, dear. I didn't see it before, but I am seeing it now that just as I walked all over you for so many years, I did the same thing to Sheridan. You told me that what's hurt you the most is the fact that I stopped listening to you and taking your feelings seriously. I think I'm beginning to see it now that I am just as guilty of doing that to Sheridan as I am of doing that to you. I monopolized so much of his time and attention as he was growing up, and I think I really did smother him, even to the point that I hindered him from having a father-son relationship with you. I always made him do the things _I_ wanted him to do. I don't think I really allowed him to develop his own personality and his own interests the way I should have."

"I don't mean this harshly, but I think it is quite true that all throughout Sheridan's life, you have treated him as though he were just an extension of yourself."

"Does he hate me for it, do you think?"

Richard honestly didn't know how to answer Hyacinth in those moments, and his silence spoke volumes to her.

* * *

When Richard arrived just outside Sheridan's apartment building that Saturday afternoon, to his surprise, he met Tarquin, who was also on his way to their flat. As soon as Tarquin introduced himself, Richard was, quite frankly, flabbergasted, because Tarquin was not at all what he'd been expecting. They struck up a conversation for several minutes, and instead of Tarquin taking Richard to their flat so he could see his son, he suggested that they go out for lunch together. Richard wasn't sure why, but something in his gut told him that he should take the young man up on his offer, so he did.

"As soon as Sheridan left home for the poly three years ago, he went wild," Tarquin explained. "With all due respect to your wife, she drove him crazy his whole life. He was so…suppressed. He could never really be himself. And you have no idea just how badly he's always resented her for it. And when he left home and he was finally free from being under her thumb all the time, he just went insane. He started partying and drinking twenty-four-seven. He was even on drugs for a little while."

" _Drugs_?" said an alarmed Richard.

"It's okay now, though," Tarquin quickly assured him. "He's clean now."

"Thank God," Richard said with a sigh of relief.

"But not much else has changed. He's still one step away from being a full-blown alcoholic, and he still sleeps with nearly everybody he comes into contact with – regardless if they're male or female."

"Are you telling me that Sheridan is bisexual?"

"Actually, no, I don't think he is. I think he just gets a weird kick out of doing things that he knows would make you and your wife feel insulted and angry. I think Sheridan just sleeps around so much, with both women and men, because he knows that if his mother knew, she would be furious. He's so angry at her that he really does enjoy doing certain things and living his life in certain ways that he knows would make her feel disrespected. Whenever Sheridan calls his mother, he always does it when our friends are over, and he puts her on speaker phone so we can all hear what she's saying. And when he talks to her, he puts on this big act of being gay. He does it to make fun of her for being so blind and clueless all the time."

"Wow," Richard said in shock.

"And there's more."

" _More_?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. B. I don't usually go butting into private family matters like this, but Sheridan is my best friend and I'm concerned about him. He's been into some bad habits for a long time now, and I'll just be brutally honest. Sheridan is consumed with anger towards his mother, and towards you too, I think, and it's eating him alive. Things can't go on this way. You deserve to know the whole truth. Mr. B., Sheridan dropped out of all his classes last year."

"Dropped out?!"

"Yeah. He decided last year that he wanted to drop out of school so he could focus all his time and energy on painting. That's his one passion. That's what he wants to do more than anything else. And he does make some money selling his paintings, but he still calls home and scams you and Mrs. B. out of money because he's not making enough money with his art to make ends meet on his own. At least not yet."

As soon as Tarquin told Richard that, he saw red. And what's more, his face _turned_ red. Tarquin could tell in that moment that all hell was about to break loose between Sheridan and his father.

* * *

"How could you do it, Sheridan?" Richard nearly yelled at his son when he came home later that day. "How could you let your mother and I believe that you've been away studying all this time, when all along, you've just been wasting all your time and energy drinking and partying and doing drugs? How could you lie to us the way you have over the past year, allowing us to believe you were still in school after you'd dropped out? How could you be so disrespectful to your mother?" Richard had been furious when Tarquin had told him the truth about Sheridan hours before, but he had calmed down somewhat. Now, there was some anger in Richard's voice as he spoke to his son, but there was more hurt and disappointment than anything.

"How could I lie to you and Mum? How could I be so disrespectful? It's pretty easy to lie and be disrespectful to two people who don't care anything about you."

"How can you possibly say that your mother and I don't care anything about you, Sheridan?"

"Easy. For eighteen years, Mum kept me glued to her side and made me do all the things that _she_ wanted to do. She never allowed me to truly be myself, Dad. Not for one single moment. She never once allowed me to have my own opinions or my own ideas about anything. She _never_ listened to a word I had to say. Never. And you? You're even worse than Mum. You're not a narcissist like Mum is, Dad. You have a conscience. You're not a five-year-old living in an adult's body like Mum always has been. _You know better_ than to behave the way Mum does all the time. Yet despite the fact that you always knew that the way Mum behaved was wrong, _you never once did anything to stop it._ You never _once_ even _tried_ to stand up for me and make Mum get off my back and allow me to be myself. If you had ever truly cared about me, Dad, you would have stood up for me a long time ago, and you would _not_ have allowed Mum to get away with bloody murder for all those years. But instead, you just stood by and let her get away with it, and you did that because you were too selfish and too much of a coward to be a real man and a real father and do anything about it. And by you letting her get away with steamrolling me all the time, you were basically throwing me under the bus. And yet I'm supposed to believe you care about me, Dad? Really? Yeah Dad, I know I'm a lousy son. But that's because you and Mum have always been such lousy parents. When it comes to relationships, people get what they deserve."

Richard said nothing in response, because in reality, he knew he _couldn't_ say anything. Although Sheridan certainly could have expressed himself to his father in a much kinder way, Richard knew that the cold hard fact of the matter was, _Sheridan was right._ After several long moments, Richard simply walked out the door, feeling as though he'd been kicked in the gut.

* * *

Over the next four weeks following his conversation with his father, Sheridan slowly came to realize that Tarquin and all his other friends were right in everything they'd been trying to tell him. He finally admitted it to himself that he could no longer go on living the way he had been just to get revenge on his parents. Now that they knew the truth about him dropping out of his classes, it left him with no choice but to _finally_ begin accepting full responsibility for his own finances, and he got a part-time job at a nearby coffee shop, working from morning 'til noon six days a week, which was enough to supplement what he made from selling his paintings. It was difficult for Sheridan to face himself and his own failings and make changes, but he soon realized how rewarding it was to be fully independent.

One Sunday afternoon in early May, Sheridan was surprised by another visit from his father. Things had really calmed down since their last painful conversation a few weeks ago, and in fact, when Richard showed up at Sheridan's and Tarquin's flat that day, his voice and demeanor seemed truly remorseful. After Sheridan let his father in and sat down with him on the settee, Tarquin announced that he had somewhere he had to go and he showed himself out and left them alone.

"It's been a while," Sheridan said quietly as soon as Tarquin walked out the door.

"Yes, it has been. And…I've had the chance to do a lot of very hard thinking, Sheridan. And I've realized something."

"What's that?"

"I've realized…that you were right about what you said. I was so angry at you when Tarquin told me the truth. I felt so disrespected and used. But now I understand that even though you have disrespected your mother and me all this time, it's only because _we_ disrespected _you_ first. I know that as you were growing up, your mother never really allowed you to have a voice of your own and she never really allowed you to be your own person. And had I been the kind of father to you that _I should have been_ , the kind of father you deserved, I would never have let your mother get away with that. I know I should have stood up to her a very long time ago, and I'm so sorry I didn't. But I don't want you to believe for a moment that the reason why I didn't stand up to her and put a stop to her behavior is because I didn't love you. Sheridan, I promise you that that's not it at all."

"I don't understand. If you loved me, how could you allow her to walk all over me the way she did all these years and not ever do anything about it?"

"Sheridan, there's a lot about your mother that you don't know. I won't go into too many details, but I will say that your grandfather really put your mother through hell as she was growing up. Today, your grandfather is a senile old man who is frequently kept sedated and lost in his own world, but back when your mother was a child, he was a violent, abusive drunk. And when I first met your mother back when I was a lad, she was a very different person. It was, in fact, very easy to fall in love with her. She was kind and thoughtful and sensitive, and she was remarkably strong, and passionate about taking care of her sisters and protecting them from their father. It was only after we'd been married a while and I started advancing in my career that she became so obsessed with rewriting her past and fitting in with the upper class. I realize it now that I hurt you very deeply by allowing your mother to get away with all her terrible behavior, but the only reason I did was because I understood that she did the things she did because it was her way of trying to forget her pain. I never realized how badly you were actually hurt by your mother's behavior. I guess I should have seen it, but I honestly didn't until a few weeks ago. But now, I do understand that I let you down, and I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry, Sheridan."

After a long silence, Sheridan nodded and told his father truthfully, "I'm sorry too, Dad. The way you and Mum did me as I was growing up was wrong, but I was just as wrong as you guys were to let it all turn me into such a jerk. Tarquin told me recently that just like Mum, I, too, have been using people for my own selfish agenda for a long time. Since I left home, I've constantly used you and Mum for money. I've used so many people for sex. And I've realized that that kind of behavior isn't any better than Mum's. As a matter of fact, it's even worse, because I've always known better than to act that way. I don't think Mum knows any better. I've got to change. I've got to start being a better person than that. I see that now."

"Well you're making great strides. Your mother and I are very proud of you for getting a job and learning to make ends meet on your own."

This was the first time in a very long time that Sheridan had actually received any words of praise from his father, and it meant a great deal to him. Sheridan smiled at his dad and simply said, "Thanks."

"And as for your mother, you probably won't believe this, but she's changed a very great deal."

"She's gotten even worse, hasn't she?"

"No. Just the opposite. You know that Elizabeth's daughter Gail was diagnosed with leukemia a while back, right?"

"Yeah, I heard."

"What you may not know is that the only way to cure Gail's leukemia is through a bone marrow transplant, and that a full-blooded sibling is Gail's best chance for a compatible donor. And Liz and her husband have several frozen embryos in storage from their previous attempts to get pregnant years ago. So last year, Liz decided to try for another pregnancy with one of her frozen embryos, and she actually was successful, but she lost the baby last December. Your mother and I were there with her, as a matter of fact, when it happened. It was absolutely terrible, and it was a miracle we didn't lose Liz as well as the baby. And the entire thing has had a very deep impact on your mother. One night, she was actually looking in the Bible, hoping God would give her some kind of answer as to why this happened, and she stumbled across a verse in Proverbs that has literally changed your mother."

"What did the verse say?"

"It's Proverbs eighteen, verse twenty-one, and it says, 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit.' You see, earlier when your mother first found out that Elizabeth was pregnant, she immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion. She started saying that the reason Liz was pregnant was because she'd had an affair with another man and the baby she was carrying was illegitimate."

"That sounds like Mum alright."

"Well, Liz found out what Hyacinth had said about her, and obviously, it hurt her and upset her, and nine days later, she lost the baby. And to this day, your mother is convinced that it was her own foolish, cruel words that caused Elizabeth's miscarriage. As a matter of fact, she's been so devastated that she's been begging Jesus for forgiveness, for that and for all her sins."

"Are you trying to tell me that now, Mum actually is some kind of Christian or something? That she's actually serious about it and not just claiming to be a Christian to try and raise her social status like she's always done before?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I've been a believer for a long time now. My faith in Christ has been the one thing that has made it possible for me to stay married to your mother for so long and maintain my sanity. And now, I think your mother is truly a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, herself. I know it's hard to imagine, Sheridan, but she really isn't the same person anymore. She's changed tremendously."

"I hate to be a downer, but after all this time, I can't help but be skeptical. Let's just say, I'll believe it when I see it."

"How about this Saturday? Your mother said just this morning that she'd like to come and spend some time with you, just you and her."

"I don't know, Dad," Sheridan said dubiously.

"I don't blame you for being skeptical, son. I know your mother really has put you through a lot over the years. But I give you my word that she really has changed. She's come to realize that her behavior really has hurt people through the years. She knows she's hurt you, and she absolutely despises herself for it. Let her come and spend some time with you, just you and her. I believe it'll do you both a lot of good. I really do."

"Okay, Dad," he said reluctantly a couple of moments later. "I'll give it a shot."

"Thank you, son," Richard told him sincerely. Then after talking a few more minutes, they got up and Richard gave Sheridan a hug goodbye.

* * *

Hyacinth showed up at Sheridan's and Tarquin's flat at two o'clock sharp that Saturday afternoon, and once again, Tarquin left so that Sheridan could talk to her alone. The minute Sheridan laid eyes on his mother that day, he instantly knew something was very different. He could easily see it on her face, particularly in her eyes, that she was heartbroken. This wasn't the same Hyacinth "Bouquet" who was always scheming to find new ways to climb the social ladder and was utterly oblivious to the world around her. The woman standing before him in his flat that day was _a serious adult._ Once they were alone and Hyacinth was ready to speak to her son, she didn't exchange pleasantries or small talk with him. She didn't even tell him hello. She just got straight to the point.

"I'm sorry," she said very seriously. "I am so sorry, Sheridan. I'm so sorry for all these years that I've been trying to change you into a carbon copy of myself, instead of letting you be who you really are. I'm so sorry for everything I've ever done to hurt you."

After studying her for several seconds, Sheridan said, "You really do mean it, don't you?"

"Yes. I mean it with all my heart. It's such a bitter irony. All these years, I used to pride myself on being such a good mother. Now, I realize, I've been a terrible mother. I've always tried to turn you into me; I never once really tried to get to know you or appreciate you for the special, unique young man that you are. I never listened to you. It kills me to say this, but it's the truth. I was never _really_ there for you. I know that after the way I've treated you all these years, I don't deserve a second chance, but I'm praying you'll give me one anyway. I want to do better this time. I'm so sorry I always made you feel like you couldn't truly be yourself around me." In that moment, Hyacinth took a couple of steps closer to Sheridan, lovingly touched his arm, and told him truthfully, "I want to know you, Sheridan. I want to get to know who you really are."

Sheridan remained silent for the longest time, but at long last, he said, "Come over here and sit down."

Hyacinth's face lit up then, and she sat down beside her son on the settee and listened, _really listened_ , as he opened up to her for hours on end.


	9. The Ultrasound

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 9: The Ultrasound**

"Hyacinth, you cannot avoid Liz forever," Richard told his wife as they were sitting at their kitchen table eating breakfast one morning in mid-June. "She came home from London two weeks ago, and I've run into her in town three times and each time, she's asked about you."

"She lost her baby because of _me_ , Richard. Because of _my_ selfishness and _my_ stupidity and _my_ big mouth. She may be asking about me to be kind and polite, but deep down, she must hate me. I hate myself for what I put her through."

"Elizabeth doesn't hate you, Hyacinth," Richard said sensibly. "I don't believe the thought ever once crossed her mind that you are to blame for her miscarriage."

"Nevertheless, I have no right to ask her for her forgiveness and her friendship. Not after what I did. Not after what I put her through. Think of it, Richard. She lost her baby, _her baby_ , all because of _me._ There are some sins in life that you just can't come back from. Jesus may have forgiven me for all my sins, but I could never ask Elizabeth to forgive me for doing such an unspeakable thing to her."

"Hyacinth, I know it'll be difficult for you to face her again, but you have to. You can't just let it eat away at you like this."

"Elizabeth is better off without me in her life, Richard. I was blind to it before, _willfully blind_ , but I see it now. All I ever did was boss her around and disrespect her. And Lord knows I drove poor Emmet up the wall. She'll probably be a lot happier forgetting about me and moving on, and it's no secret Emmet will be."

"Emmet isn't really the issue, here. The most you and Emmet have ever been is acquaintances, not friends. But you _have_ been friends with Elizabeth for years. And I think that after all these years of friendship, you owe it to Elizabeth and to yourself to talk to her, _really talk to her_ , and see where things stand. At the very least, you do owe it to Liz to let her know how sorry you are for the way you've always treated her."

Hyacinth remained silent for several moments, but finally, she looked her husband in the eyes and told him, "You're right. I don't like it, but you're right. I'll call Elizabeth and invite her over for coffee at eleven."

Richard nodded, and then he took Hyacinth's hand in his and kissed it and gave it an affectionate squeeze.

* * *

"It's really very strange," Elizabeth mused. She was sitting in one of her living chairs and Emmet was sitting at the piano in their lounge, and they'd gotten to talking about Hyacinth that morning.

"Yes, it is," Emmet agreed. "And I like it. She hasn't forced us over to her house for one of her excruciating coffee sessions in ages. It's been forever since she's tried to sing at me. It's been heaven."

Liz shook her head and said, "It's not like Hyacinth at all. I hardly ever see her out in her garden anymore, and from what all I've heard, she hasn't shown her face in town or at church in so long. I'm really very concerned about her."

Before Emmet could respond, the telephone rang, and Liz got up and answered it.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hello, Elizabeth. It's Hyacinth."

"Oh, hello, Hyacinth. Emmet and I were just talking about you. We haven't seen you in so long now. Is everything alright?"

"I've had better days," Hyacinth said honestly. "Anyway, Richard told me that you were back in town, and I was wondering if you'd like to come over for a cup of coffee."

"Actually, Hyacinth, at my last doctor's appointment, my physician told me that I had to cut out all caffeine from my diet. I do appreciate the offer, though."

"Of course, dear. I understand. However, I do have tea that's caffeine-free. Shall I make you a cup of tea this morning?"

"Certainly," Liz said pleasantly, and this time, she actually was happy to go over to Hyacinth's house. Ever since Hyacinth found out what was happening with Gail months before, she had in fact become much easier to get along with than she had been in the past. Plus, there was a genuine sadness and sorrow in Hyacinth's voice that Elizabeth had never really heard in it before, and she was concerned about her. "Thank you, Hyacinth."

"It's my pleasure. I'll see you at eleven."

"See you then," Liz confirmed, and then they hung up.

"She trapped you into another coffee session, eh?"

" _No_ , Emmet, she did _not_ 'trap' me into anything. She didn't summon me or order me over to her house like she's done in the past. She _asked_ me over. And I'm going because I really am concerned about her."

"Why would you be concerned about someone who's treated you the way Hyacinth has all this time?"

"Emmet, how long are you going to hold a grudge against Hyacinth and beat her into the ground?" asked Liz, who was clearly very irritated. "I know that she's been unbearable in the past, but ever since she found out about Gail, she's been there for me. She was there for me when I lost my baby last December, and over the past several months, she's organized countless donor drives for Gail. Why don't you ever think about _that?_ Why must you dwell on the past?"

"You're right, Liz. I'm sorry," Emmet said remorsefully. "She really has done a lot for our family."

"Yes, she has. Underneath all her guff, she really is a kindhearted, caring person. And I know that something's not right. I know she's not herself. It's only right that I go over and talk with her today."

"I suppose it is. You're a sweet soul, big sister."

"I try," Liz said with a smile, and Emmet returned the smile, and then he turned around to the piano and began playing some soft, soothing music.

* * *

An hour later, Liz was on Hyacinth's doorstep, and she rang the bell. As soon as Hyacinth heard it, her heart pounded with dread, and she felt sick at her stomach. She knew that she had to talk to Elizabeth about this, that it was the right thing to do, but it was agonizing to face. After all, Elizabeth had lost her unborn child _because of her._ Hyacinth knew that if the tables were turned and Elizabeth had caused _her_ to lose a baby, she would hate Elizabeth with everything she had in her 'til her dying day. Hyacinth knew Elizabeth would probably let her have it with both barrels. She was expecting it. She was prepared for it, at least as much as a person could be. But she was still dreading it. Finally though, after waiting for several long, painful moments, Hyacinth took a deep breath, walked up to the front door, and opened it.

"Hello, dear," she said quietly.

Liz smiled – much to Hyacinth's surprise – and she said, "Hello, Hyacinth. It's good to see you again. It's been quite a while."

"Yes," said a surprised Hyacinth. She really wasn't expecting Elizabeth to be so pleasant. "Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it? Do come in."

"Thank you," she said, and then she followed Hyacinth through the hallway into the kitchen and sat down in her usual chair at the kitchen table. Hyacinth then poured them each a cup of tea in a couple of beakers and sat down across from Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, since you've been away visiting Gail, things have changed in my life a very great deal. I won't go into a lot of details, but they say the Lord moves in mysterious ways, and He certainly has moved in my life. He's made me wake up and face the truth about myself. Elizabeth, I realize now that while you have always been a friend to me, a wonderful friend, I haven't been much of a friend to you. The last time that you returned from an extended stay with your daughter, my sister Daisy told me that I had always treated you like you were just an object to be used for my whims and desires. I was too proud to admit it to myself then, but now I understand how very right she was. For so long, I…I've had the audacity to look down on you when in fact, I should have been looking _up_ to you. You've always been so kind and patient and caring and generous and gentle – all the things I wasn't. All the things I could only hope to be.

"Elizabeth, right around the time that you left for London again, God helped me to understand the grave level of power that words can carry. When you first returned to town last December and I found out you were pregnant, I know you remember that I said the most stupid, hurtful things. Well, the reason I said what I did was because I was a petty, childish, selfish fool. I said what I did about you having an affair, not because I actually believed it. I didn't believe it for a moment. No, I said the things I said because I wanted to put you down and act like you were beneath me so I would feel better about myself. That's it. That's the cold, hard, bitter truth. And since you've been gone, I've done a lot of hard thinking. Your pregnancy was a very high-risk pregnancy. You and your baby were in a fragile state, and you were already under so much stress with all your worries about your daughter's leukemia. Lord knows the last thing you needed was me causing you even more stress, and that's exactly what I did. I was stupid and cruel, and I hurt you and I made things even harder for you than they already were. And while there is no way to know for certain, it is entirely possible that what I did caused or at least contributed to your miscarriage."

"Is that why you've been avoiding me ever since I came back home? Because you think my miscarriage was your fault?" Liz asked incredulously.

" _It was_ my fault, Elizabeth," Hyacinth said as a couple of tears silently fell from her eyes. "At least to a certain degree. It's basic common sense that you don't do anything to cause undue stress to a pregnant woman, and that's precisely what I _did_ do because I was so mean-spirited and selfish. After doing such an unspeakable thing and causing you so much pain, I don't expect you to forgive me, Elizabeth. I don't expect you to be my friend anymore. I understand that that would be asking far too much. I get it. I really do. I just asked you over here this morning because I wanted to tell you, for what tiny little bit that it may be worth, that I'm sorry. I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for what I've put you through. And I want you to know that I will always regret it, and that I will _never_ again treat people the way I used to treat you."

"Oh, Hyacinth," Elizabeth said with such compassion in her voice, which was really a pleasant surprise for Hyacinth. "Hyacinth, I never for a minute believed that you were to blame for my last miscarriage. It's just…one of those painful mysteries of life that happens and we can't know why, at least not in this life. I've had to learn through all of this to stop playing the blame game. It never gets us anywhere. If you want to play the blame game, Hyacinth, then let's think this through logically and take this to its natural conclusion. You think that the hurtful things you said caused my miscarriage and that you're to blame for it. But if that's true, that would mean that I am even more to blame for it than you are. Hyacinth, when I chose to return home from London in December, I knew perfectly well what I was getting myself into. I knew all along what you could be like. Yes, I was hurt when you said the things you did, but I wasn't surprised. I knew the whole time to expect something like that from you, and yet I chose to come back home and expose myself to that anyway. So if the loss of my baby was really your fault because of what you said, it's even _more_ my fault because _I_ made the decision to return home and be around you, knowing full well that you would probably behave the way you did and cause me more stress."

Hyacinth instantly reached across the table, put her hand on top of Elizabeth's, and firmly told her, "Elizabeth, that's not true at all. You were never to blame for the loss of your baby."

"But that's my entire point. Don't you see, Hyacinth? Playing the blame game never gets anybody anywhere. It's a complete waste of time and energy. It never does anyone any good to waste the precious time in their lives needlessly tormenting themselves. Hyacinth, I've never felt that my last miscarriage was your fault, and I don't feel that way now. However, if you honestly believe that you need my forgiveness for anything, you have it."

"I don't know what to say," Hyacinth gasped as even more tears streamed down her cheeks.

Liz then kindly patted Hyacinth's hand and said, "Hyacinth, we all know what a windbag you can be sometimes. But I _also_ know that underneath it all, you do have a kind heart."

"Perhaps, but I could have been a lot kinder through the years than I was. But I've learned my lesson. From now on, I'm going to actually _think_ before I speak, and I'm going to start being there for people the way I should have been all along, rather than expecting the whole planet to revolve around me all the time.

"And on that note, I'll stop talking about _me_ and ask about _you._ You said your physician has told you that you can't have caffeine in your diet anymore. If you don't mind my asking, what else did he say? How are you doing now?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. At my last doctor's appointment, he told me I was in excellent shape and that I was fully recovered from my miscarriage."

"Oh, that's wonderful news. I'm so glad to hear it. You ate properly and got plenty of rest when you were visiting Gail and your Aunt Maggie, didn't you?"

"Yes," Liz said with a smile, appreciating all of Hyacinth's concern for her. "I took good care of myself, and it made me very happy to be with Gail so I could keep a close eye on her, too. Spending time with my daughter was excellent therapy for me."

"Of course it was. I'm so glad you had a good visit with Gail. How is she doing?"

"Well, from time to time, it's been a bit of a struggle. She frequently has colds and fevers because the leukemia weakens her immune system, and her doctor's had to increase the dosage of her Interferon, which is one of the drugs she has to take to keep her white blood cell count under control."

"Yes, I remember you telling me about the Interferon."

"It is a real challenge to deal with on a daily basis, not just physically, but emotionally. But my Gail is as tough as they come. Through it all, she's maintained excellent grades in all her classes, and even though it's hard sometimes, she's sticking with it. She's an incredible young lady. Maybe I'm biased, but I often find myself asking God why He allowed me of all parents to be blessed with the most amazing daughter on the face of the earth."

"Well that's simple," said Hyacinth, and then she got up from her seat and picked up the teapot and freshened Elizabeth's cup. "You have an amazing daughter because she was blessed by God with an amazing mother, my dear."

"Thank you for saying that, Hyacinth."

"It's just the truth, Elizabeth. Many mothers wouldn't have your courage to go through a pregnancy at our time of life without their husband by their side."

"Hyacinth?" said Liz as she, too, rose to her feet.

"Yes, dear?"

"Do you think I was wrong to try to get pregnant before? Do you think I was being selfish to try to bring a baby into the world at my age, without my husband with me, just in the hopes of the baby being a compatible bone marrow donor for Gail?"

"Of course not. It wasn't selfish. It was one of the bravest, most loving things I've ever heard of. Perhaps I wouldn't have felt that way if I wasn't certain that the baby would have been loved and cared for, but with you, there was never any doubt of that. You're a wonderful mother, Elizabeth. Why do you ask?"

"It's just something I've been struggling with a lot here lately. Something I've been thinking about. I…oh, I may as well tell you the truth, but you _must_ give me your word that you won't breathe a word of this to anyone. It's very important that this remain between the two of us for right now."

"Don't you worry, love. I won't say a word. I realize I haven't been the most trustworthy person in the past, but I'm not that childish buffoon you used to know. Not anymore."

"I know you're not. Alright, Hyacinth. Here goes. You remember shortly after I had my miscarriage and I was in the hospital and I promised you and Gail and Emmet and everybody else that I would never attempt another pregnancy?"

"Yes, I remember. And thankfully, I know you're a woman of your word. When you lost your last baby, you really scared us all to death. You're very precious to all of us, Elizabeth. It would kill us if anything ever happened to you."

"I do always try to be a woman of my word and keep my promises, Hyacinth, but sometimes…"

"Sometimes what?" said Hyacinth, and then she began to sense what Elizabeth was trying to tell her. "Honey, you're scaring me."

"I know I made a promise to all of you, but Hyacinth, try and put yourself in my place for a moment. Try to imagine that it was your Sheridan who had been diagnosed with leukemia and given, at best, five years to live. If you knew that your child, your only child, was dying, and the only way to save him was to attempt a high-risk pregnancy, even after multiple miscarriages, what would you do? Would you keep a promise that was made in an emotional, vulnerable moment in your life, or would you gather your courage and give it one last try for the sake of your only baby that you love more than life itself?" Hyacinth closed her eyes for several long moments as she fought off tears. Finally, Liz broke the silence, telling Hyacinth, "Like I said, I really am sorry for breaking my word to you and to everyone, but at the end of the day, keeping my daughter alive trumps any kind of promise I might make to someone. Keeping my little girl alive trumps anything and everything else."

"I know that, honey. I know," Hyacinth said softly. "You're absolutely right. The life of your child _does_ trump everything else. And if I were in your shoes, I'd try to get pregnant again too. I was just telling you a couple of minutes ago what a wonderful mother you are, and it's true. And I see it that being a wonderful mother is built into your very identity, Elizabeth. It's who you are. And I cannot hold you at fault for simply being the beautiful soul that God created you to be. When are you trying again?"

"Actually…I've _already_ tried again, Hyacinth. I didn't tell Gail or Aunt Maggie about it when I was with them in London, but in March, I went back to see Dr. Hill again at the fertility clinic, and once again, I was put on medication to help prepare my uterus for another pregnancy. A few weeks later in April, she determined that my uterus was in optimal condition for another frozen embryo transfer. And we agreed that she would thaw my last three embryos and transfer them into my uterus, and she did. And…"

"And…?" said Hyacinth, who was anxiously hanging onto Elizabeth's every word.

"And despite my age and despite the odds being stacked against me, it worked. I'm ten weeks pregnant, Hyacinth. Lord willing, I'll be having a baby in January."

Hyacinth instantly pulled Elizabeth into her arms and gave her a long, ferocious hug. "Oh, Elizabeth. Oh, my dear, sweet girl." When their embrace finally ended and with her hands on Elizabeth's upper arms, Hyacinth asked, "Are you okay, honey?"

Elizabeth nodded and told her, "So far, everything appears to be going well. However, the last time I saw a doctor was six weeks ago to get the results of my blood test. Dr. Hill has tried several times to get me back into her office to do an ultrasound, and I've been avoiding it."

"Why?"

"After all the other babies I've lost, obviously, I'm deeply worried about this one. I've basically been getting through these past several weeks just gritting my teeth and stubbornly keeping my mind focused on other things. I've forced myself _not_ to think about the baby as much as possible. Just thinking about it makes me worry so much. But I realize I can't put it off forever. I do owe it to the baby to get myself checked out and make sure everything's okay. So I've made an appointment with Rachel. She'll be doing my first ultrasound this afternoon at three."

"I'm so glad, honey. Regular check-ups are so important. You said you didn't tell anyone when you went back to the fertility clinic and did this…what did you call it? Frozen embryo transfer?"

"Yes. Frozen embryo transfer."

"Right. But you have told your family about the baby by now, haven't you? I mean, I understand you wanting to wait a while before telling most other people, but Gail and Emmet already know, don't they?"

"Actually, no, they don't. I haven't told anyone about it yet except you."

"Elizabeth, you have to tell them. You particularly have to tell Emmet so he can be taking care of you properly. You cannot go through this without your family's help and support."

"Hyacinth, Emmet was there with me during my last two miscarriages, and the effect of it all was almost as traumatic for him as it was for me. I know how deeply it would worry him if he knew I was pregnant again. And it would worry Gail just as much, and given everything she's already going through, I will not do anything to add to her burdens. They've been through more than enough of my pregnancy drama over the years. It's best if I just keep quiet about it at least until I've reached my second trimester."

"Honey, you're always thinking about everybody else. It's high time you started thinking about _your_ needs for once. You're constantly there for others, myself included. You need to start letting people be there for _you_ for a change."

"I appreciate what you're saying, Hyacinth, but as far as telling my family is concerned, my mind is made up. I will tell them in a few weeks when I feel that the baby is out of danger, but not before then. However, if you're really serious about wanting me to let others be there for me, you can do me a very big favor and come with me this afternoon when I go to see Rachel. I could use some moral support."

"Yes. Yes, of course I'll go with you, my dear girl. Nothing would make me happier," Hyacinth said as she pulled Liz into another hug. When the embrace ended, Hyacinth told her, "I don't like your decision to keep this to yourself, Elizabeth. I don't like it and I don't agree with it. However, I can't thank you enough for letting me know what's going on and asking me to go with you today."

" _I_ thank _you_ , Hyacinth. You are a wonderful friend."

"It's terribly generous of you to say that after all I've put you through over the years."

"Well, it happens to be a fact that I'm a very generous person," Liz teased, and both ladies had a good laugh.

"We'll get through this, love."

"I'm trying to believe that."

"Believe it. We will. I know you've been through hell with all the other babies you've lost, but it's not going to be that way this time. We're not going to lose this one, Elizabeth. Do you hear me? _We are not going to lose this one._ "

"I think I'll need you to believe it for me for a while."

Hyacinth nodded, took Elizabeth's hand, gave it a squeeze, and told her, "I will, love. I'll believe it for you until you're able to believe it for yourself."

Elizabeth squeezed Hyacinth's hand in return and also nodded, and prayed that she was right.

* * *

Hyacinth walked the short distance with Elizabeth to Michael's and Rachel's new house that afternoon, and as soon as they arrived, Rachel showed them into the exam room that she'd had set up for all her patients. After Rachel asked Liz some questions, she had her lie back on the exam table and she began performing the ultrasound. For the longest time, Rachel stared intently at the ultrasound screen without saying a word, and the longer she remained silent, the more frightened Liz became. When Hyacinth saw the silent terror on her best friend's face, she instantly reached out and took her hand, which did give Liz a small degree of comfort.

When Rachel finished the ultrasound at long last, Elizabeth looked her straight in the eye and asked her, "Something's wrong with the baby, isn't it?"

"No, no, Elizabeth," she quickly assured her. "Nothing's wrong. Everything looks perfectly fine."

"Oh, thank You, Jesus," said Liz while letting out a big sigh of relief.

"Amen," Hyacinth heartily agreed as she looked up. "Thank You, sweet Lord."

"I'm sorry if I upset you by taking so long. It's just that I saw something that was rather unexpected. Liz, you did say that you had your last three frozen embryos transferred into your uterus, correct?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, it appears that more than one of them has successfully implanted. There are _two_ babies here, Elizabeth. You're having twins."


	10. Pushing Through Fear

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 10: Pushing Through Fear**

"Twins?" Elizabeth gasped.

" _Twins_?!" Hyacinth cried out.

"Twins," Rachel confirmed. "Here. See for yourself. Here's Baby A," she said while pointing to one tiny form on the screen. A few moments later, she pointed to the other one and announced, "And here's Baby B."

"Two babies," Liz said in utter disbelief.

"Twins," said Hyacinth. Then she suddenly laughed out loud and cried out in a jubilant voice, " **WE'RE HAVING TWINS!** " In the next moment, she threw her arms around Elizabeth. "Oh Elizabeth, I'm so very happy for you! This is marvelous news!"

Once Hyacinth finally let go of Elizabeth, she looked at Rachel and asked, " _Is_ this really marvelous news, Rachel? It's risky enough simply having one baby at my age but having _two_?"

Rachel nodded and said, "You're right. Having twins at your age is very risky, Elizabeth, especially given your history of miscarriages. It's essential that you take very good care of yourself now. It's more important than ever that you maintain a healthy diet, avoid stress, and get plenty of rest."

"Not to worry, Rachel. I'll see to it that she does," said Hyacinth.

"Have you been taking a prenatal vitamin?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. I've been taking one ever since I found out I was pregnant," Liz confirmed.

"Good. Have you been having trouble with morning sickness?"

"A little, but surprisingly, it hasn't been nearly as bad with this pregnancy as it has been with my others. As a matter of fact, practically from day one of this pregnancy, I've been ravenous."

"Well an increased appetite is to be expected, especially with twins," said Rachel.

"Indeed. It's hardly surprising," Hyacinth agreed. "After all, Elizabeth, you are eating for three now."

"Eating for three," Elizabeth repeated. "I can't believe it. I can't believe I'm actually having twins."

"Well believe it. The ultrasound doesn't lie," said Rachel as she grabbed some paper towels and wiped the gel off Elizabeth's abdomen. Afterwards, she told her, "You can sit up now, Liz. We're all done."

Liz nodded, and then she pulled down her blouse and Hyacinth took her hand and helped her sit up on the exam table. Rachel spent the next few minutes talking to Elizabeth about what all she could expect over the upcoming weeks and months, and she told her about warning signs to watch out for and gave her advice about various aspects of her pregnancy. And Hyacinth did something that had been extremely unusual for much of her life: she actually kept quiet _and carefully listened_ to every word that Rachel had to say, so that she too would know what to look out for and how best to care for her friend. Then after a bit of small talk, Elizabeth and Hyacinth said goodbye to Rachel and began walking home.

* * *

Over the next four weeks, Hyacinth basically kept Elizabeth under a microscope. She watched her ever so carefully, and she was constantly finding ways to keep Elizabeth stuffed – not an easy task for someone whose best friend was carrying twins. Hyacinth asked Elizabeth over for tea every single day – _asked_ , not ordered – and when she came over, she made certain to feed her and feed her _well_. And Hyacinth frequently cooked breakfast and dinner for both Elizabeth and Emmet and sent the meals to their house via Richard so Elizabeth wouldn't have to cook.

Finally, when Elizabeth was fourteen weeks into her pregnancy, people started getting suspicious of her increasingly round shape, which she'd tried her best to keep hidden with loose-fitting clothes. Rumors began to circulate that Elizabeth was pregnant again, and one evening on his way home from work, Emmet ran into Marjorie and Phyllis, who asked him point-blank if the rumors were true. Until that moment, Emmet hadn't heard the rumors, and he insisted to both of them that it wasn't true at all, which satiated their curiosity – at least for the time-being.

When he walked through the door a few minutes later, he found Hyacinth cooking dinner in the kitchen – which was not an uncommon thing nowadays. Emmet had certainly had his issues with Hyacinth over the years, but one thing he actually did appreciate about her was the fact that she was practically a gourmet chef. Elizabeth had always been a fine cook, of course, but Hyacinth was actually better, although he never would have admitted it out loud out of loyalty to his sister.

"Good evening, Hyacinth," Emmet said pleasantly as she was closing the oven door. Hyacinth was wearing her typical blue housedress with white polka dots and she had Elizabeth's pink apron on.

"Hello, Emmet," Hyacinth happily greeted him. "How was work today?"

"Work was fine. Thanks for asking. Where did Liz get off to?"

"Elizabeth's been feeling pretty tired today, so I made her go to bed and rest. I thought I'd take care of supper for her this evening. I don't want her to tire herself out."

"That's very kind of you, Hyacinth. I must say, you really have spoiled me with your cooking as of late."

Hyacinth laughed a bit and said, "It's been my pleasure. Supper should be ready in about ten minutes."

"Thank you. It smells wonderful. You know, Hyacinth, you and I have had our differences, but I have to tell you that I really do appreciate everything you've done for us these past few months. You've really been there for Liz and for Gail through all of this. I won't ever forget that."

Hyacinth smiled, and she looked him in the eyes and told him seriously, "After the countless times and ways your sister's been there for me all these years, it's a privilege to get to be there for her now."

Emmet returned the smile, and then a moment later, he said, "You know, I just ran into Marjorie and Phyllis on my way home. You won't believe the rumor that's going around about Liz now. You may have noticed that my sister's gained a little weight recently, and people are actually saying that they think she went back to the fertility clinic when she was visiting Gail in London and did another frozen embryo transfer. People think Elizabeth's pregnant again. Isn't that silly? I mean, I know she's been tired and run-down as of late and that she's been eating a lot and gaining some weight, but just think about everything she's going through. Her only child is suffering from leukemia. It's understandable that that would take a terrible emotional and physical toll on a person. If I had a daughter and she'd been diagnosed with cancer and given five years to live, I'd be stress eating and exhausted all the time, myself."

After a long, deafening silence, Hyacinth finally locked her gaze with Emmet's and told him truthfully, "Elizabeth isn't stress eating, Emmet. And even though Gail's illness has taken a real psychological toll on Elizabeth, as it would on any real mother, that's not the reason she's so tired all the time. The rumors about your sister are true, Emmet. When she went to London a few months ago, she had Dr. Hill thaw and transfer her last three frozen embryos into her uterus, and it was successful. Elizabeth _is_ pregnant again."

Emmet slowly sank down on one of the stools at the kitchen counter. "I can't believe it," he gasped. "I just can't believe it. I cannot _believe_ Liz would do something like that."

"Emmet–"

"She promised. She gave us her word she wouldn't put herself through something like this again."

"Yes, she did. But you have to put yourself in your sister's place, Emmet."

"Why? She didn't put herself in _our_ place. We love Liz. We need her. If something happened to her, it would kill all of us inside."

"Yes, it would. And the reason _why_ it would kill us inside is because Elizabeth is a beautiful human being. She's a remarkable sister, wife, and friend. And above all, she's an extraordinary mother. Elizabeth's selflessness and love for other people, and especially her overpowering love for her child, are the very qualities in her that make us love her so very much. Emmet, at the end of the day, you have to realize that even though it terrifies us to see her putting her health and even her life on the line to try and save Gail, Elizabeth is simply being who she is. You cannot blame your sister and get angry at her for trying to save her child."

Emmet let out a long sigh and closed his eyes for a good while. At long last, he opened them again, looked at Hyacinth, and said, "You're right, Hyacinth. I absolutely hate what Elizabeth has done – I'm scared to death by what she's done – but I know you're right. I can't get angry at her for trying to save Gail's life. I just…I don't know if I can take seeing her go through another miscarriage."

"Elizabeth's already in her second trimester, Emmet. I know a miscarriage is still possible, but she's fourteen weeks into her pregnancy now. She told me herself just the other day that she never got this far with all the other babies she's lost. That's very, very encouraging."

"I suppose so," Emmet said doubtfully.

"There's one other thing."

"You mean there's _more_?"

"Yes. I told you that Elizabeth had her last three embryos transferred into her uterus. Two of them took. Your sister's having twins, Emmet."

"Wow," he gasped. "This is…unbelievable. And terrifying."

"I know," Hyacinth said sympathetically.

"Hyacinth, I truly appreciate you cooking supper this evening. I appreciate it very much. And I don't mean to seem impolite or ungrateful, but the truth is, after everything you've told me about Liz, I don't think I can look at food right now. Why don't you ask Richard over and the two of you eat with Liz? I'm going to go out for a walk and clear my head."

"No worries, Emmet. I've made plenty of food tonight. I'll save you a plate and you can heat it up later when you feel up to eating."

"That's very kind of you, Hyacinth. Thanks for everything."

"Of course," she told him, and then Emmet got up and left.

* * *

To Elizabeth's surprise, Hyacinth actually served supper to her in bed, which she truly appreciated. After she was done eating that night, Hyacinth washed the dishes and said goodbye and returned home. As soon as she walked through the door, Richard surprised her with a long, tender kiss.

"Hello, you," he said to her with a warm smile, and Hyacinth laughed.

"Hello, love. I'm sorry. I know I'm rather late tonight. I'll go and get supper started right now."

"No. I don't want you to lift a finger. I thought I'd take you out to eat this evening at that new French restaurant in town."

"Oh Richard, what a lovely surprise. Thank you."

"Ever since you found out that Liz is expecting twins, you've been working your fingers to the bone, running two households at once. It's time you had a break. I thought about cooking supper myself tonight, but I think we're better off eating out. As you know all too well, cooking isn't my gift."

Hyacinth laughed and gave Richard another kiss, and then she assured him, "Don't worry, dear. You have many other gifts. I'll go and get changed."

"Hyacinth?" Richard called just as she began walking towards their bedroom, and she turned around to face him.

"Yes, Richard?"

"I know you've made a lot of big changes in your life over the past several weeks, and I know it hasn't been easy for you. I know it's been a very painful road. But I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of you."

"Thank you, Richard," Hyacinth said sweetly, and then she went into the bedroom to get changed. Richard smiled, feeling more contented than he'd felt in a very long time.

* * *

When Emmet finally returned home about an hour later, he found Liz sitting in one of the living chairs in their lounge knitting. After a long silence, Emmet approached her, sat down in the other chair next to her, and quietly said, "Hyacinth tells me I'm going to be an uncle again. An uncle of twins."

Liz put her knitting down on the coffee table, looked at her brother, and said, "That's right. And I take it that you're not exactly thrilled by the news."

"I'm _worried_ , Liz. You have been through so much, and this is so incredibly risky. I'm scared that something might happen to you."

"I know, Emmet," she said sympathetically. "I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't scared too because I am. I definitely am. But I absolutely will _not_ allow fear to stop me from doing everything I possibly can to save Gail's life."

"I know that, Liz. I know. As Hyacinth told me earlier this evening, I cannot hold it against you for being a wonderful mother and for doing everything in your power to try and save your daughter. I don't like this, sis. I don't like it at all. But I know that you as a mother are doing what you've got to do. I get it. And I'm with you. I'm always with you. No matter what."

Elizabeth reached out, took her brother's hand, gave it a squeeze, and said, "Thank you, Emmet. It really helps to hear you say that."

"Just telling the truth," said Emmet, and then they let go of each other's hands.

"I know you're worried about me, but this is going to work out. Gail, the babies, and I are going to be alright. I believe that with all my heart. I'm _determined_ to believe that and to keep on believing it, no matter how difficult things might get."

"And I'll be believing it with you," Emmet told her encouragingly, and then the brother and sister looked at one another and smiled. It was true that they were both afraid, but it was _also_ true that no matter how hard it was, they were going to push through that fear and keep going.


	11. Mum

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 11: Mum**

Over the next six weeks, things remained rather tense for everyone as they were all so worried about Elizabeth and the babies. Both Emmet and Hyacinth waited on Liz hand and foot and watched over her so very carefully, as did Richard. And mercifully, against all odds, Elizabeth's pregnancy continued to progress well. And through it all, Hyacinth couldn't possibly have been more supportive. She continued encouraging Liz and caring for her constantly, and she went with her to Rachel's house and to her obstetrician's office for every prenatal visit. She also worked very hard helping to organize three more donor drives for Gail, but unfortunately, despite hundreds of people volunteering to get tested, none of them were a suitable match.

Then in late August, twenty weeks into her pregnancy, Elizabeth decided to sign up for one of the childbirth classes Rachel was teaching to her patients and their husbands every Saturday afternoon in the church hall. Elizabeth attended them for the next two weeks alone, and then Rachel took her aside one Saturday after class was over and insisted that she find a birthing partner or "coach" to attend the classes with her. Meanwhile, Jonathan Thompson, the fifty-five-year-old widower who had replaced Michael as their church's vicar, was holding a potluck supper in the church hall later that evening, and Hyacinth and Richard had arrived to help get everything set up for it. Just as Hyacinth and Richard entered the foyer just outside the church hall, they began to overhear what Rachel was saying to Liz.

"You cannot do this alone, Elizabeth," she told her.

"I know, Rachel. I know. I just haven't been able to think of anybody who's available who might actually be interested. As you know, my husband's in Saudi Arabia. And Gail is going through so much with the high dosage of Interferon she's on. So much of the time, it's all she can do to muster up the strength just to get to her classes. I can't ask her to make the two-hour-drive from London and back every Saturday. And I can't trouble my Aunt Maggie with this. She's almost eighty years-old."

"What about Hyacinth? You know she's been very supportive ever since she found out you were expecting again. She's been right there beside you for every prenatal checkup."

"Yes, she has, but going with me to give me moral support during prenatal checkups is one thing. Being my birthing partner in the delivery room is another thing altogether. Hyacinth's been a wonderful friend to me throughout all of this, but if there's one thing I know about her, it's that she absolutely hates messy situations. And there is nothing in life more messy than a birth."

"Oh, I don't know, Liz. I think you're underestimating her. I know how prim and proper Hyacinth used to be, but you know better than anyone how much she's changed. She really has come down off her high horse and turned into a warm, sensitive person, as well as a very caring and concerned friend. I think she'd love to be there with you to help you bring your little ones into the world when the time comes."

"I don't know. It's not something you just slip into casual conversation. 'Hello, Hyacinth. How are you today? Would you like to be with me in the delivery room when I give birth?'"

Without missing a beat, Hyacinth burst into the church hall and cried out, "Yes!"

Rachel laughed, and Elizabeth asked, "Hyacinth, are you sure about this? This won't be a candlelight supper, you know. Things can get very uncomfortable in the delivery room. Very graphic."

"Of course I'm sure, dear. I'd consider it a very special honor to get to be there to help you greet your little ones when they arrive. I haven't said this enough in the past, but you're my best friend, Elizabeth. You're more than that. You're family, and I love you dearly, and nothing would make me happier than to get to be there with you and help you through it when it's time for the babies to come."

Clearly touched, Liz smiled and said, "Thank you so much, Hyacinth. I don't know what to say. I really don't know what I'd do without you."

In the next moment they hugged, and then Hyacinth assured her, "You don't have to say anything at all."

Suddenly, Liz gasped, held her stomach, and said, "Oh, wow."

"What is it, dear?" asked Hyacinth.

After a quiet moment passed, Liz laughed again and moved her hand to the other side of her abdomen. Then she said, "I just felt the babies move."

Hyacinth's face lit up, and she asked, "Both of them?"

Liz nodded and replied, "Yes. Yes, I'm sure it was both of them."

Rachel smiled and said to Liz, "That's perfectly normal. Mothers usually begin to feel their babies move from sixteen to twenty-five weeks and you're twenty-three weeks along now."

"Just think, Elizabeth. You're past the halfway point now. You'll be holding your little ones in your arms before you know it," Hyacinth said happily as she patted Elizabeth's stomach.

"I can't wait," said Liz with a smile.

"Neither can I," said a very excited Hyacinth, and everybody laughed and smiled.

* * *

Three weeks passed, and in that time, Hyacinth remained very watchful and protective of Elizabeth. She was constantly over at Elizabeth's house visiting her and helping her out with the cooking and the cleaning, and she also proved herself to be a very thorough and sensitive birthing partner. Whenever she went to birthing classes with Elizabeth, she took painstaking notes and remembered everything Rachel said down to the most minute detail. She also helped Elizabeth organize two more donor drives at the church hall for Gail, but unfortunately, they still didn't find a compatible bone marrow donor.

A number of significant changes happened in the life of Hyacinth's sister Violet as well. Over the past few months, Hyacinth actually started really listening to Violet and being there for her, and she _stopped_ trying to talk Violet into staying married to Bruce just so she would still have his money and his Mercedes. They became much closer once again, like they had been when they were growing up, and for the first time in ages, Violet was able to truly open up to Hyacinth and confide in her. One day, she finally admitted to her oldest sister that she wasn't miserable in her marriage to Bruce because of all the stupid little things they were always complaining about; she was miserable because Bruce had been ceaselessly cheating on her with all the secretaries he'd had over the years. Also, it was very easy to see that Bruce's lifestyle of cross-dressing had always been deeply embarrassing for Violet, and that certainly hadn't helped matters between them either.

"What woman wants a husband who goes around town dressed as Cinderella or Maid Marian all the time, Hyacinth?" she asked through her tears one September afternoon as they were sitting together in her lounge. "I want a husband who knows how to conduct himself like a man! I want a husband who knows how to _be_ a man! Real men don't go around embarrassing their families wearing ridiculous dresses all over the neighborhood! And more importantly, real men don't make promises to the people they claim to love the most and break them every chance they get! Bruce stood before the Almighty God on our wedding day and promised to save himself _only for me_ as long as we both shall live. A real man would have kept that promise, and he also would have kept his promise to love me and cherish me instead of embarrassing me with his ridiculous cross-dressing over and over and over again every single day! Bruce is not a real man. He's a pathetic caricature of a man. Onslow and Richard are real men because Onslow keeps his promises to Daisy and Richard keeps his promises to you."

"You're right, Violet," Hyacinth sadly agreed. "You are absolutely right. I know you've been miserable, honey. I know you've been terribly unhappy all these years, and I also know that _I_ have _not_ been helpful. I'm so sorry for pushing you all these years to stay with Bruce just so I could brag to everyone about your social standing. That was very selfish of me, and I was wrong, Violet. I was terribly wrong."

"So…are you trying to tell me that it's okay with you if I leave Bruce?" Violet asked Hyacinth, almost sounding like a small child.

"Violet, love, you're a grown woman. Whatever decision you come to about your marriage, that's something that is strictly between Jesus, you, and Bruce. It's not any of my business. But I will tell you this. Whether you decide to stay with him and try to work things out, or whether you decide you can't take it anymore and file for a divorce, either way, I'm here for you. No matter what, I'm always here for you."

Tears came to Violet's eyes in that moment as she told Hyacinth, "I've needed to hear you say that for so long. I know that I'm a grown woman and I know it's my choice to stay with Bruce or not, but as we were growing up, you were the only real parent I ever had, Hyacinth. You were always the one who took care of us and protected us from Father. You were the one we always came to when we had any kind of problem in our lives and we needed help or advice. You've been so much more than just my eldest sister all my life. You've been my mother, too, and my hero and my protector and my closest friend. I just couldn't bear the thought of divorcing Bruce knowing that it would make you feel disappointed in me."

Hyacinth reached out then and took her sister's hand and said once again, "I'm so sorry, Violet. I've been so terribly selfish all these years to talk you into staying with Bruce just for the sake of my own self-serving agenda."

"Things are getting worse, Hyacinth. I sent Aaron and Alexandra away to boarding school when they both turned six because even eleven years ago, the atmosphere between Bruce and me was so toxic. Even back then, we were constantly at each other's throats. You cannot raise two innocent little children in an unhealthy environment like that. You cannot allow them to grow up watching their parents continuously going at each other's throats."

"Of course you can't. You did the right thing, Violet."

"You know what's so painful about all of this? Aaron is seventeen now. Next year, he'll be starting college. And Alexandra is sixteen. It'll hardly be any time until she's all grown-up, too. And I've missed almost all of their lives. Bruce and I don't really even know our own children, and they don't know us."

"You protected your children, Violet, just as every parent is _supposed_ to do."

"Like I just said, it's hurt me so badly being apart from my children all this time. But yet in another way, I am grateful to God that Aaron and Alexandra have been away at school, especially over the past year or so. Things have gotten so bad between Bruce and me that we've gotten violent with one another several times, just like what happened in the house that day when you dragged the vicar and his wife and your neighbors over here for your barbecue."

That last sentence was an arrow to Hyacinth's heart as she came to a shattering realization. Over the years, she had actually morphed into such an unbelievably selfish person that she'd continued pushing her sister to stay in an abusive marriage just so she could go on using her to try and raise her own social standing. She had stopped being any kind of a sister to Violet at all.

Hyacinth then squeezed Violet's hand, locked her eyes with Violet's, and told her, "Violet, you've got to listen to me. You've got to get away from Bruce. _Now._ Go and stay in your nice cottage in the country, or go to your villa in Ibiza. If you want to, you're more than welcome to come stay with Richard and me for a while. But the point is, you've got to get away from Bruce, for the sake of your safety and your sanity. You cannot continue to stay here with him in such a violent atmosphere. You don't have to make a decision about your marriage right here and now. You can make that decision later. Just get away from him for a while and take some time to clear your head and think about things. Right now, the most important thing is to get away from Bruce so you two won't hurt each other any more than you already have."

Violet nodded, and then she let go of Hyacinth's hand, grabbed a tissue, and dried her eyes. "You're right, Hyacinth," she concurred. "I've allowed this disaster of a marriage to drag on for far too long as it is. I've got to get out. I've got to get away from here before I lose my mind. I'll go to my villa in Ibiza for a while."

"That's a good idea, dear. It'll give you a good chance to get away from all of this pain and stress and relax. This can be a kind of vacation for you in a way. You can just take some time and catch your breath."

Violet nodded again, and then she said to Hyacinth, "Thank you."

Hyacinth shook her head and told her sister, "Don't thank me. I should have said this to you a long time ago."

"A couple of years after you married Richard and left home, you began changing into a completely different person, Hyacinth. Your social advancement was the only thing you could ever think about. I felt like I'd lost the only real mother I'd ever had. It's so good to have you back, Mum."

That really got to Hyacinth. Throughout their childhood and teen years, Daisy, Violet, and Rose had all called Hyacinth 'Mum.' _She_ was the one person in their lives who had truly raised them. As soon as Violet called her 'Mum' again, Hyacinth broke down and cried.


	12. Test Results

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 12: Test Results**

It was the first week of November, and Liz was twenty-nine weeks pregnant and rounder than ever. But despite the ongoing fatigue she'd usually had, she'd begun to feel more energized now than she had throughout her whole pregnancy. And since she was feeling so well, she made the spur-of-the-moment decision to invite Hyacinth, Richard, Onslow, Daisy, and Rose over for lunch one afternoon, and they all had a wonderful time.

"It's a shame that dishy brother of yours couldn't join us today, Liz," said Rose with an air of mischief in her voice, and Elizabeth stifled a laugh. She knew as well as anyone how much Rose liked to throw herself at her brother. In earlier times, she'd found it irritating, but ever since she and Onslow and Daisy had been there for her when Gail was first diagnosed with leukemia, they'd all become a lot closer. Liz had really come to like Rose, and she'd learned to overlook some of her more inappropriate ways.

"Emmet's busy working on a new play," Liz explained. "He's really got his hands full with his cast right now."

"It's a good thing he does have his hands full with his cast right now, our Rose. If he were here this afternoon, he wouldn't even be able to use his hands to eat lunch with us because he'd be too busy trying to push you off of him!" Daisy teased.

"It's astounding how many blokes have that problem when they're in the same room with Rose," Onslow quipped.

"Are you two suggesting that I'm a little too flirtatious?" asked Rose.

" _A little too flirtatious_?! Rose, saying that _you_ are a little too flirtatious is like saying the Grand Canyon is a small ditch!" Hyacinth kidded her youngest sister while everyone else broke out laughing.

"Oh, well," Liz said amidst the laughter. "We all have our personality quirks."

"There's nothing wrong with being a bit flirtatious. However, Rose, if you're going to be flirtatious, at least keep it restricted to single men. You know you always get into such trouble when you go after the married ones," Hyacinth lovingly scolded her.

"I tried to go after a single fella today but he's gone rehearsing his play," Rose teased, and again, everybody had a good laugh.

"I think you should consider yourself lucky to be single, Rose. I'm not trying to speak for everybody, of course, but I can tell you from my own personal experience and from everything my poor brother went through with his ex-wife that so often, marriage can be more trouble than its worth. Most people aren't as fortunate as Onslow and Daisy and Hyacinth and Richard are."

"That's sad but true," said Richard. "Hyacinth's poor sister Violet was miserable in her marriage to her husband Bruce for so long. But after she relocated to her villa in Ibiza and filed for a legal separation, she's practically become a new person. When she called Hyacinth the other day, she sounded so happy."

"Yes, she did," Hyacinth agreed.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Elizabeth.

"I think getting away from all of the daily drama of Bruce's exploits is doing Violet a lot of good," said Daisy.

"I agree. I think she's needed to get away from him for a long time now," Onslow concurred.

Just as Elizabeth was about to say something, the telephone suddenly rang. "Please excuse me for a moment, everyone," she said, and then she got up from the dinner table and went into the lounge to answer it.

When she came back into her dining room about five minutes later, they could easily take one look at her and tell she'd been crying. Hyacinth immediately got up, went over to her and asked, "What is it, love? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Hyacinth. Actually…I'm crying because I'm so happy. I just got the most wonderful, incredible news in the world."

"What is it, dear? What's this wonderful news of yours?" Hyacinth happily asked.

"That was my doctor on the phone. I had an amniocentesis a while back and it confirmed that both babies were healthy, and I also had the babies' tissues typed to see if either one of them were a match for Gail. And as it turns out, they're _both_ a match, Hyacinth! Both babies are a perfect match!"

Hyacinth let out a jubilant shout, and then she and everyone else hugged Liz and celebrated.

* * *

Naturally, Elizabeth was over the moon when she learned that both of her babies were a perfect match for Gail. She went through the next week happily singing and humming to herself, and she even allowed herself the pleasure of starting on the twins' nursery. She'd put it off so long because of all the miscarriages she'd suffered in the past, but now that she was thirty weeks into her pregnancy, she finally felt it was safe to start getting everything ready for her little ones. As would be expected, Hyacinth came over to lend a hand with the nursery and she was a very big help, as was Richard. While Emmet and Richard assembled the twins' cribs, Hyacinth helped Elizabeth put up new wallpaper for the nursery and get all the baby clothes and toys properly organized. Emmet had taken the day off from work to help his sister, and when all was said and done, he was most pleased with the finished product, as were Elizabeth, Hyacinth, and Richard.

At the end of the day, Richard took Emmet out for a drink to celebrate all their hard work, which left Elizabeth and Hyacinth alone. After the men were gone, Elizabeth sat down in one of the two rocking chairs inside the nursery, and Hyacinth pulled up the other one and sat down near her. Elizabeth had chosen wallpaper with the background of a blue sky and white clouds, and both the cribs were white as were the rocking chairs and the rest of the furniture, and the new carpet, which had been put in days earlier, was a sky blue that perfectly matched the wallpaper.

"You should lie down and get some rest, Elizabeth," Hyacinth said kindly. "I know you're tired."

"I will in a little while. First, I really need to talk to you about something."

"Of course, love. What is it?"

"Hyacinth, all through this whole thing, you have been the most amazing friend anybody could ever hope for. You have been right there for me every single moment. You've done so much for Gail and the babies and me. You've taken such good care of us."

Hyacinth smiled, looked her best friend right in the eyes, and assured her, "I always will, honey. I always will."

"I'm going to have to hold you to that. Some time ago, I had a very long talk with my husband and my brother. Frank's going to continue to provide for the babies and me financially, but in every other way, he has no interest in being a father or a husband. But we've all discussed it, and we've all agreed that if something happens to me in childbirth, Emmet is going to take custody of the babies and raise them. We've signed all the legal paperwork and everything."

"Now what brought this on? What makes you think something's going to happen to you, Elizabeth?"

"I don't _think_ anything is going to happen to me at all, Hyacinth. I'm certainly not _planning_ on dying in childbirth. But I'm staying realistic, too. There are a lot of risks for someone my age having a baby, much less having twins. Something unexpected could happen, Hyacinth. Something could go wrong. And if, God forbid, it does, I'm going to need you more than ever. Emmet's a wonderful man, and I trust him completely, but if something happens to me in the delivery room and he suddenly finds himself on his own with two babies, he's going to need all the help he can get. And my babies will need someone in their lives to love them and nurture them as a mother would."

"Elizabeth…if something should happen, that's the last thing in the world you would ever need to worry about. If for some unforeseen reason you couldn't be there to take care of your little ones, no woman on earth would love them more than I would. That's a promise."

"Thank you so much, Hyacinth. That's exactly what I needed to hear."

Hyacinth reached out in that moment, took Elizabeth's hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

* * *

About a month after everyone set up the twins' nursery, at thirty-four weeks into her pregnancy, poor Liz was absolutely miserable. When she went with Hyacinth to see Rachel for another prenatal visit, she was hoping so hard that maybe because of her advanced age, Rachel would recommend it to her obstetrician to induce labor. Unfortunately, Rachel made it clear that even though she was sorry to see Elizabeth so miserable, her discomfort simply wasn't a good enough reason to induce. Elizabeth's age was indeed a concern, but physically speaking, her body was actually handling the stress of pregnancy amazingly well, and her heart was in excellent shape.

"I know it's very hard, Liz," Rachel said sympathetically to Liz during her prenatal visit. "I know you're terribly uncomfortable. But we simply must give your babies as much time as we can before we bring them into the world. Babies that are born prematurely, even just four weeks prematurely, can sometimes have unexpected complications."

After Hyacinth accompanied Elizabeth back to her house, Hyacinth voiced her displeasure. Of course she too wanted to give the babies all the time they needed, but at the same time, she really was worried about Elizabeth. Once Hyacinth was done saying her peace, Elizabeth changed into a comfortable nightgown and laid down in bed. Hyacinth popped her head inside a few minutes later to check on her.

"Are you alright, honey?" she kindly asked.

"Physically speaking, I've had better days, but I'll get through it," Elizabeth said with a sigh, and then Hyacinth came in and sat down on her bedside.

"I don't like it, Elizabeth," Hyacinth complained. "I understand what Rachel meant about giving the babies more time, but we have to think about what's right for you too. Perhaps you ought to get a second opinion."

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, Hyacinth. I don't like what Rachel had to tell me today, and I am miserable, but the cold, hard fact of the matter is, Rachel is right. I so wish I could just go into labor today and get all this over with, but the truth is, this is not about me. This is about these two precious little lives that I'm carrying. I have to do what's best for them, regardless of how I feel."

"Yes. You're right, Elizabeth. It can be very difficult and painful sometimes, but no matter what, the needs of our little ones must always come first."

"And they're always our little ones, no matter how old they get."

"So true. And speaking of our children, how's Gail doing?"

"She's doing remarkably well, considering the circumstances. She's physically drained a lot of the time because of the leukemia and the medication, but inside, she's doing a much better job of keeping her spirits up than I probably would be in her shoes."

"I'm so glad to hear that."

"When Emmet and I went to London last Friday to visit Gail and Aunt Maggie, Gail surprised me with the best news I could ever have hoped for. Up until now, Gail's never wanted too much to do with the Lord. But when we were there, she told me that everything she's been going through all this time has really made her stop and think about things. She said that she wanted to have the kind of certainty that I have; that she wanted to be able to know for sure where she was going to spend eternity. And you'll never guess what happened after that."

"What?" Hyacinth asked with keen interest.

"Emmet said he felt the same way. So Aunt Maggie and I really talked with both of them in depth about our faith in Christ, and they came to faith in Christ as well. You have no idea how long I've been praying for this."

"That's wonderful, Elizabeth. I'm so happy for you. For all of you. I've been praying for that too. And I'm also praying that the same thing will happen with Sheridan and my sisters and their families one day."

Elizabeth nodded and said, "It'll happen, Hyacinth. Just hang in there."

Hyacinth patted Elizabeth's stomach then and said, "I should be telling you that."

Elizabeth chuckled and said, "Well, we'll both just hang in there as best we can."

"Agreed," said Hyacinth. Then after a couple more minutes of chitchat, Hyacinth said goodbye so Elizabeth could get some rest.


	13. Elizabeth's Jewels

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 13: Elizabeth's Jewels**

"Liz, are you really sure you want to put yourself through something as traumatic as childbirth at your age? Don't you think it would be better just to talk to your obstetrician about doing a C-section instead?" asked Daisy. It was the twenty-eighth of December, a Sunday afternoon, and Daisy and Rose had decided to pop over to Hyacinth's house for a visit. Liz was there having tea with Hyacinth in the lounge when they arrived.

"My obstetrician here in town has tried several times to talk me into having a scheduled C-section, as a matter of fact. But I'm dead set against it. I had a very dear friend as a young girl named Evelyn. She lived down the street from me and we grew up playing together and going to school together. When she was nineteen, she got married and then the following year, she got pregnant. It was a complicated delivery and she had to have a C-section. Well for the first day or so after her son was born, everything appeared to be fine. But then she died suddenly because the C-section actually resulted in several blood clots which traveled to her lungs. I'm not prepared to take that gamble. I know better than most how painful and even traumatic childbirth can be. I had a natural childbirth with Gail. But after what happened with Evelyn all those years ago, I'm convinced that I'm better off at least trying to give birth to the babies myself rather than resorting to surgery."

"You're a brave woman to go natural, Liz," said Daisy with obvious admiration. "When my Stephanie was born, I had an epidural."

"Didn't you have a natural childbirth with your Sheridan, Hyacinth?" asked Rose.

"Oh yes," Hyacinth confirmed. "I know they say an epidural is safe but I didn't like the thought of having any unnecessary medications in my system. I was worried it might have an adverse effect on Sheridan."

In that moment, Elizabeth visibly tensed up, and she changed positions on the settee to try and get a little more comfortable.

"Are you alright, Liz?" asked Daisy.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just those blasted Braxton-Hicks contractions. I've been having them for days now. Women often get false labor pains in the weeks leading up to birth. It's the body's way of practicing for the real thing."

"Is there anything we can do?" Rose questioned.

"Do you want to go into the bedroom and lie down for a while, dear? Would that make you more comfortable?" asked Hyacinth.

Liz shook her head and answered, "No. No thank you, Hyacinth. As a matter of fact, I think I'd like to go out and take a good long walk. I'm feeling rather restless at the moment and I think it would make me feel better to move around."

"That's a good idea, love," Hyacinth told her. "I'll come with you."

"I appreciate the offer, Hyacinth," said Liz as she and Hyacinth stood, "but I think I just want to be on my own for a bit."

"Are you sure, dear? I don't think it's a very good idea for you to be out all by yourself right now."

"Thank you for all your concern, Hyacinth, but I'll be fine."

"Well be sure and ring me as soon as you get home to let me know you got back safely."

"Yes, Mother," Elizabeth teased, and Hyacinth chuckled a little. Then she gave Hyacinth a hug and said goodbye to her and to her sisters and walked out the door.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, right after Richard had returned home from the store, their doorbell rang.

"Do you want me to get it, dear?" asked Richard, who was now sitting with Hyacinth, Daisy, and Rose in the lounge.

"No thank you, Richard. I'll get it. It might be Elizabeth," Hyacinth replied.

A couple of moments later, Hyacinth opened the door and sure enough, Elizabeth was standing there. However, Hyacinth instantly noticed that she was wearing her green maternity dress. When she'd been there earlier that morning, she'd been wearing her light blue one. The second after she caught Elizabeth's change of clothes, she could see a concerned, almost frightened look in her eyes, and she knew it then beyond a doubt that something was definitely up.

"Honey, is everything alright?" asked a very concerned Hyacinth.

"My water broke."

Hyacinth's eyes grew as wide as saucers then as she practically yanked Elizabeth into the house and made her sit down in the lounge.

"Sweetheart, what happened?" Hyacinth asked after she got Elizabeth to sit down on the settee.

"Well, I went out for a little walk like I said I would, and I was barely gone for two minutes when it happened. My water broke right there on the pavement. So I turned around and went home and I got cleaned up and changed my clothes, and then I came over here."

"I'm glad you did, love. Don't you worry. We'll take very good care of you. I'll go and ring Rachel and your obstetrician and let them know what's happened."

"Thank you, Hyacinth," Elizabeth told her, and then Hyacinth left to make the calls.

While Hyacinth was out of the room, Rose began pacing.

"I can't believe this. I'm excited, nervous, and terrified all at the same time. I don't know if I can take this."

Daisy chuckled at her youngest sister and said, "You don't know if _you_ can take this? I believe _Elizabeth_ is the one who's in labor now, our Rose."

"Liz, is there anything we can do?" Richard asked gently.

Elizabeth shook her head and told him, "No, Richard, but thank you."

"Actually, yes, there is something the two of you can do," Daisy announced. "Richard, you can go next door and get out Elizabeth's overnight bag and bring it here. She packed it weeks ago. And as for you, Rose, you can go into the kitchen and make some tea."

"My overnight bag is in the lounge, Richard. It's sitting on the floor next to the piano," Liz informed him.

"Right. Thanks, Liz."

"Thank _you_ ," said Elizabeth, and then Richard left for her house and Rose went into the kitchen.

As soon as they were both gone, Daisy could clearly tell that Elizabeth had started having another contraction. Daisy then sat down beside her on the settee and held out her hand for Elizabeth.

"Here, Liz. Take my hand, love."

"Thanks, Daisy," Liz whispered, and she tried her best to breathe her way through the contraction while clinging to Daisy's hand for dear life.

Not long after the contraction ended, Hyacinth came into the lounge with a notebook, pen, and stopwatch.

"I spoke to Rachel and to your doctor. Your doctor told me that since Rachel is going to be here with you, we could wait until the contractions started getting closer together before we brought you in to the hospital. And Rachel's on her way here now. She should be here in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Hyacinth."

"When I talked to Rachel, she reminded me that I need to be timing your contractions."

"She just had one a minute ago while you were out of the room," Daisy told her.

"Well when you have your next contraction, Elizabeth, I can start timing them."

"Oh, this is so exciting!" Daisy cried out. "We're having twins today!"

"You know what's so strange about this? Just over two weeks ago, I was practically begging to be induced. Now that I actually am in labor, I'm worried. I've only made it to thirty-seven weeks. Or _almost_ thirty-seven weeks. It would have been thirty-seven weeks this Tuesday. But anyway, the babies are still coming over three weeks early. What if they need more time?"

"Your babies will be fine, Elizabeth," Hyacinth assured her.

"Of course they will be," Daisy agreed.

Before Elizabeth could say another word, another contraction hit, and she reached out for Hyacinth's and Daisy's hands and maintained a death grip on them.

* * *

Soon after Rachel arrived, she took Liz into Hyacinth's bedroom and performed an examination, and she determined that she was six centimeters dilated and over fifty percent effaced. Once Rachel had finished examining Elizabeth, she started having another contraction and she _loudly_ announced that she wanted to be left alone, so Rachel quickly left. However, she did come back into the bedroom with a portable oxygen tank and she put Liz on oxygen at the doctor's recommendation just as an extra precaution. After putting the nasal canula under her nostrils, Rachel checked her vital signs and continued to keep a close check on them as the afternoon passed.

Eventually, Hyacinth asked Elizabeth's permission to sit with her a while and Elizabeth granted it, so Hyacinth got a chair out of the kitchen and brought it into the bedroom and sat down by the bed. Ever since the contractions had begun in earnest, Elizabeth had _not_ been in a very good mood, and she'd wanted to get off to herself and get away from the rest of the world. However, when Hyacinth sat down near her, it did give her a sense of comfort. And almost immediately after Hyacinth sat down, Elizabeth began having yet another contraction, and she reached out for Hyacinth's hand.

Once the contraction was finally over, Elizabeth said, "You know something, Hyacinth? You and I have officially come full circle today."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you realize that precisely one year ago today, you and I were in this very room together and you were sitting with me and helping me through it as I was having my miscarriage?"

"I didn't know that," said Hyacinth, astonished.

"It's true. It was on the twenty-eighth of December last year that I had my miscarriage. Now, you're sitting in here with me, helping me to give birth to twins. One year ago today, I was absolutely devastated because I knew I was losing my baby."

"And now, despite the pain, you're rejoicing inside because you know that tonight, you'll be holding your babies in your arms," Hyacinth said with a knowing smile.

"I can't wait."

"Neither can I."

* * *

Fortunately for Elizabeth, her labor progressed very quickly. She was at eight centimeters when Rachel examined her again at around four-thirty that evening, and it was then that everyone went to the hospital. As soon as Elizabeth was settled in one of the labor rooms, she began taking in gas and air, which really made it much easier for her to get through the contractions. One hour later, Elizabeth's obstetrician informed her and Hyacinth that she was fully dilated and effaced and ready to push. Elizabeth had several options, but in the end, she decided she was most comfortable sitting up on the birthing stool, so that was what she did. And Hyacinth, who had now donned blue scrubs like everyone else in the delivery room, was sitting beside Elizabeth holding her hand and encouraging her.

"Remember what Rachel said in our classes, love. Take everything nice and slow," Hyacinth said gently to Elizabeth while rubbing her back. "You mustn't hurt yourself. You just relax and take your time, honey. We have plenty of time. We're not in any rush."

Elizabeth nodded, grateful for Hyacinth's encouraging words, and then she continued to push. Just barely a minute later, her doctor, who was on her knees on the floor carefully watching for the baby, announced, "Your baby's crowning, Elizabeth."

"We're almost there, love. We're close. We are so close," Hyacinth said cheerfully, just barely holding back the flood of excitement she was feeling. Hyacinth was so thrilled at how close the first baby was that she could have easily started turning cartwheels right there in the delivery room, but she managed to rein it in for Elizabeth's sake. She knew how important it was to help Elizabeth stay as calm and relaxed as possible now.

Rachel, who was sitting on the other side of Elizabeth, told her, "You're doing great, Liz. You're doing absolutely great."

"Thanks," Liz gasped. Then in the next moment, she started having another contraction, but she pushed as lightly as she could because she knew if her baby's head came too quickly, she would injure herself like Hyacinth said.

"The head is born," the doctor announced, and as soon as she said that, Hyacinth couldn't help but cry silent tears of joy.

"You're amazing, Elizabeth," Hyacinth told her.

About thirty seconds later, Elizabeth pushed again, and her first baby came sliding right out into the doctor's arms and began crying. _Loudly._

In that instant that she saw her newborn infant in the doctor's arms, she cried out with tears streaming down her face, " _Is that my baby_?!"

Hyacinth laughed out loud and answered, " _Yes_! That's your baby, honey! That's your beautiful, beautiful little baby!"

Rachel quickly got a large white towel and handed it to the doctor to wrap the baby up in, and then the doctor placed the baby in Elizabeth's arms. For the next several minutes, Elizabeth simply cradled her baby up against her chest and rested her eyes. Finally, though, she opened her eyes again and looked down into her baby's face.

"Oh, wow," Elizabeth said through her tears. "Look at you, little one. Aren't you something?"

"The baby has your hair, Elizabeth," Hyacinth said. And indeed, the infant did have a head full of light blonde hair just like its mother.

"Yes, it does. And the most amazing eyes as well," Elizabeth pointed out. The baby had blue eyes, but they were different from Elizabeth's. If one looked at the baby's eyes in the right light, they actually appeared violet.

"I know," Hyacinth agreed.

"Let's see. What are you?" said Elizabeth, and then she checked. "You're a girl," she announced in the following moment. "You're the most beautiful little girl."

"A girl! Oh, how wonderful, Elizabeth!" Hyacinth cried out.

About a minute later, Elizabeth passed the first placenta and Rachel quickly disposed of it. Almost immediately after that, Elizabeth's water broke again and she had to resume pushing. Despite Elizabeth's efforts to try to take it as slowly as possible, her second baby was determined to make a rapid entrance into the world. After just three pushes, the second twin came out into the doctor's arms. However, the atmosphere was very different with the second baby than it had been with the first. The infant was frighteningly still and quiet, and the doctor quickly cut the cord and whisked it away and began working on it. Rachel went over to help.

"Oh God," Elizabeth gasped.

"It's alright, honey," said Hyacinth as she lovingly wrapped her arm around her best friend's shoulders. "It's alright. Everything's going to be alright. Sometimes our little ones just need a bit of help to get started breathing and moving around; that's all."

Mercifully, the baby began crying then, and both Elizabeth and Hyacinth cried tears of relief. After wrapping the baby up in a warm towel, Rachel brought it to Elizabeth and gently placed it in her arms.

"Congratulations, Elizabeth. You have another healthy, beautiful baby girl," Rachel announced.

"Another little girl! How very delightful!" Hyacinth cried out. "And just look at that head full of red hair. How very precious!"

More joyful tears streamed down Elizabeth's face as she tenderly stroked her daughter's red hair. "You scared me, little one," Elizabeth gently scolded. "Oh, I love you so much."

"Do you know who she gets the red hair from, Elizabeth?" asked Hyacinth, who had already fallen head over heels with the little baby girl and with her twin sister.

"She gets it from her great-grandmother. My grandmother had red hair," Elizabeth explained. "And this dear little one gets her hazel eyes from my grandfather. And her sister gets her violet eyes from Frank's grandmother. I've seen pictures of her."

"Your little ones are gorgeous, Elizabeth. Positively gorgeous. Just think. Now you have a brunette, a blonde, and a redhead. You've got a complete set."

Elizabeth laughed and said, "Indeed I do. I've got the three most amazing daughters in the world. No mother could ask for anything more."

For the longest time, Elizabeth just sat there, rocking her younger baby and holding her close, which helped her calm down inside after the terribly frightening way she'd come into the world.

* * *

It was difficult for her, but with Rachel's assistance, Elizabeth was able to take a bath after the birth and then settle into the bed of her private hospital room with her babies. While Elizabeth was taking a bath, Hyacinth gave the babies their first baths as well, and then they were weighed and examined by the doctor. The doctor gave the twins a clean bill of health, and she let Elizabeth and Hyacinth know that the first baby weighed six pounds, one ounce, and that the second baby weighed in at five pounds, fourteen ounces. After learning how much the babies weighed, Elizabeth was moved to her private hospital room with the twins, and the doctor allowed Hyacinth to be the one to go out into the waiting room and give everybody the good news.

When Hyacinth went to the waiting room, Emmet, Gail, Maggie, Richard, Daisy, Onslow, Rose, and Michael were all sitting there waiting together. The instant Emmet saw Hyacinth coming down the corridor, he rose from his seat, as did everyone else.

"How is she, Hyacinth? How's my sister?" asked a clearly worried Emmet.

"In Elizabeth's own words, she's sore, exhausted, and happier than she's ever been in her entire life." Emmet then let out a sigh of relief. "It was tough, but your sister's a very strong woman, Emmet. She came through it well."

Gail looked up and said, "Thank You, Jesus."

"Amen to that," said Maggie.

"Indeed," said Michael. "Rachel and I have been praying so hard."

"And the babies are doing well, too," Hyacinth announced. "Elizabeth gave birth to two healthy, gorgeous baby girls."

"Two little girls! How sweet!" Daisy cried out.

"Looks like you're going to be heavily outnumbered from now on, Emmet," Rose teased.

"The first little girl came at five-forty this evening, and her sister came at five-fifty-nine," Hyacinth informed them.

"I can't wait to see them," said Gail.

"Do they look like Liz?" asked Onslow.

"The older twin does. She looks very much like Elizabeth. She has Elizabeth's blonde hair and her nose and profile, and the most incredible eyes."

"What does the younger twin look like?" questioned Richard.

"According to Elizabeth, she takes after her great-grandparents. She has red hair like Elizabeth's grandmother, and hazel eyes like Elizabeth's grandfather. Oh, she's absolutely beautiful. They both are."

"I can't wait to see them," said Gail.

"I already spoke to the doctor about that. Visiting hours are over now, but she said it was alright for you and your Uncle Emmet to go back and spend a few minutes with Liz and the babies. Come on. I'll take you two to Elizabeth's room."

"Ah, thank you, Hyacinth," said Emmet.

"Yes, thank you, Mrs. Bucket," said Gail.

"You're most welcome. Follow me. It's this way," said Hyacinth, and then off they went.

* * *

Without saying a word, Gail just threw her arms around her mother and gave her the biggest, longest hug.

"Be careful, Gail," Hyacinth cautioned. "You know your mum's been through an awful lot today."

"Oh, I'm not in such bad shape that I can't enjoy a good hug from my daughter," said Liz as she ferociously returned Gail's hug.

After the embrace ended, Gail asked, "Are you okay, Mum? Was it very bad?"

"There's a degree of difficulty in every labor, my dear. It was rather painful and tiring, but I came through it, and I'll be perfectly alright," Elizabeth insisted. However, Hyacinth and Emmet could tell that Elizabeth was downplaying everything she'd been through because she didn't want to worry Gail.

"Of course she will be. Your mother's a trouper, Gail. After all, she managed to put up with me all her life," Emmet kidded.

"Can I hold the babies?" Gail asked.

"Well of course you can, silly," Liz answered with a bit of a chuckle. "They're your sisters, aren't they?"

"What are their names, Mum?" Gail questioned Liz as she picked up the younger twin and sat down with her and began cuddling her in her arms.

"Well Hyacinth, you and your sisters are all named after flowers. I figured I'd name my girls after jewels, because that's exactly what they are. These babies are my jewels, just as you are, Gail," said Liz as she locked her eyes with Gail's, and Gail smiled. "I'm naming the older twin Amethyst for her violet eyes. Her eyes are blue, but if you look at them in just the right light, they look violet. I'm calling her Amy for short."

"Amy. How lovely," said Hyacinth.

"Yes. That is a beautiful name," Emmet agreed.

"And I'm naming the younger twin Ruby for her ruby-red hair."

"Amy and Ruby. Oh I love it, Elizabeth. I just love it," Hyacinth told her.

"So do I, sis."

"Me too," Gail concurred. "Those are beautiful names. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ruby," she said softly to her baby sister in that moment, and Ruby cooed.

Gail and Emmet spent the next ten minutes holding and cuddling Amy and Ruby, and chatting with Elizabeth and Hyacinth. Then everyone noticed how exhausted Elizabeth was, so they decided to leave and let her get some well-earned sleep for the night.

Just before they left, Gail told her mother, "This is the most extraordinary thing anybody's ever done for me, Mum. I don't know what to say."

Elizabeth smiled and said, "You don't have to say anything, sweetheart. Nobody twisted my arm. I did precisely what I _wanted_ to do."

Gail bent down then and gave Elizabeth another hug, and she whispered in her ear, "I love you, Mum."

"I love you too, my precious girl. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," said Gail, and then she left.

Emmet then bent down and kissed Elizabeth on the cheek, and he told her honestly, "You're incredible, Liz. You really are."

"You mean you're only just _now_ realizing that?" Elizabeth teased, and Emmet laughed.

"I love you, sis. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you too, little brother. See you in the morning."

Emmet walked out the door a couple of moments later, and then Hyacinth walked up to Elizabeth's bedside and gave her a big hug.

Just before Hyacinth said goodbye to Liz for the evening, she looked her in the eyes and said, "Hyacinth, I…I just want you to know how very much I appreciate everything you've done. Especially you being there with me in the delivery room."

Hyacinth dismissed her words with a wave of her hand and told her, "You needn't thank me, Elizabeth. It was a privilege. All of it. It really was."

"I could never have gotten through all this without you," Elizabeth told her truthfully.

"And I could never have gotten through so many lonely years without you. You were there for me so many times in so many ways, Elizabeth. You chose to love me and be there for me and be my friend even when I least deserved it. You chose to always try to find something good in me even when I was so arrogant and disrespectful and impossible. Had the tables been turned, I never would have been able to behave with such patience and gentleness and compassion. Getting to be there for you over this past year hasn't been a burden or a chore, Elizabeth. It's been a privilege. And getting to be by your side today as you brought these precious little ones into the world has also been a privilege, a remarkable privilege. And I can't thank you enough."

Again they embraced, and afterwards, Hyacinth said goodnight and left.

* * *

By the time Hyacinth made her way back to the hospital waiting room, everybody else had gone home except for Richard, who was still there waiting patiently for his wife. The minute he saw her coming down the hall, he rose from his seat. As soon as Hyacinth reached him, he greeted her with a long, loving kiss.

"Hey, beautiful," he said kindly, and Hyacinth laughed and smiled.

"I don't know how 'beautiful' I am in these scrubs, Richard."

"I think they suit you," Richard teased. "I think my Hyacinth looks sexy in hospital scrubs."

Hyacinth laughed out loud and said, "Oh stop it, Richard! You're being so silly. I'm in scrubs. My hair's a mess because of this cap I've had to wear." Hyacinth then pulled the cap off and tossed it out in the nearby garbage bin. "My makeup's a mess because I've been crying half the night. I'm a disaster."

"Well as far as I'm concerned, you're a beautiful disaster, Hyacinth. And I want you to know that I am very, _very_ proud of you tonight. You were there for Elizabeth. You really were there for her when she needed you most. You're the most loving person I know, and I'm very proud to say that you're mine. All mine."

Richard gave Hyacinth another passionate kiss, right there in the hospital, and when it ended, Hyacinth couldn't stop laughing.

"Richard, you're crazy. People are starting to stare at us. I'd better get you home before you go completely off the deep end and get yourself committed somewhere," Hyacinth teased, and the happy couple laughed together as they walked out of the hospital.


	14. Mysterious Ways

**A/N:** See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

 **Chapter 14: Mysterious Ways**

 _Four Years Later…_

Gail stood speechless before a full-length mirror in her bedroom. She looked positively glorious in her floor-length, long-sleeved, white lace wedding gown. Elizabeth had helped her with her hair, which was arranged nicely on the top of her head in a bun, and a matching lace veil streamed down behind Gail, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.

"You look incredible," Elizabeth told her.

"Do I really, Mum?"

"Absolutely. When Tim sees you coming down the aisle today, he's going to be mesmerized. I have never seen you looking more beautiful than you do today."

"Thank you. You know Mum, I…I wouldn't have any of this today if it hadn't been for you. If you hadn't gone to such unbelievable lengths to save my life four years ago, I wouldn't even be here. I guess what I'm trying to say is…thank you. Thank you for everything."

Elizabeth hugged her daughter then and said, "It was worth it, Gail. It was more than worth it. Every moment of pain, doubt, fear, sadness, and turmoil can't hold a candle to the joy I'm feeling now in _this_ moment, looking at my oldest daughter, standing in front of me on the day of her wedding in her wedding dress. Oh love, I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, Mum. Who would have dreamed that I'd find my future husband while I was in the ICU receiving a bone marrow transplant from my eighteen-month-old sister Amy?"

Elizabeth laughed. "I knew I liked Tim the moment I met him. He wasn't like most other doctors. You could instantly tell how much he genuinely _cared_ about what was going on in the lives of his patients. He's a Godly man, Gail, and take it from me. There aren't too many of those left in this world. So you cling to him and you build a good, happy life with him. I know that with Tim's career in medicine and you starting out in your career as an attorney, things are liable to get very hectic and stressed at times. But no matter how hard it may get, always remember to take time to show each other how much you love one another."

Gail nodded and said, "We will, Mum. We will."

"Life is too short to waste it holding onto grudges and resentment."

"You're preaching to the choir, Mum. I realized that when they told me I had leukemia. And when Aunt Maggie died last year."

"She would've been proud of you too."

"It was so generous of her to leave me the house in her will. It's the perfect place for Tim and me now."

"She'd be thrilled to know that you and your husband are going to be living here."

In that moment, Amy and Ruby came running into the room, shouting for their mother, wanting her to help them settle their latest dispute. Today, the issue was, who was going to wear the white bow and who was going to wear the lilac bow with their matching lilac-colored dresses with white sleeves. Hyacinth came in shortly after the girls did, and she stood around in the background with obvious amusement as she watched Elizabeth settle their little spat. As soon as Liz calmed the girls down, they went running off into the lounge again in a blur. They were both going to be flower girls at their big sister's wedding, and Elizabeth could only pray that they would stay out of mischief long enough for her to get them to the ceremony in clean dresses!

"That's the trouble with you, Elizabeth. You have such boring children," Hyacinth teased, and Elizabeth and Gail laughed.

"Hyacinth, I know that Richard is already at the church with Tim and Uncle Emmet, and I know that Daisy, Onslow, and Rose are coming. Is Violet going to be there with her new husband? What's his name again? George? Geoffrey?" Gail asked.

"Gregory," Hyacinth supplied. "His name is Gregory White. And yes, they'll be there. Violet told me herself that she wouldn't miss it for the world."

"She's really a lot happier now since she finally left Bruce, isn't she?" questioned Gail.

"Oh, without a doubt. Their marriage was terribly toxic. It wasn't healthy for either of them to stay in that relationship, I'm afraid. But now, Violet's spending more time with her children than ever before, and she's really started enjoying life again, especially after she and Gregory fell in love."

"You know Hyacinth, I never dreamed your sister Violet would actually fall for a mechanic," said Elizabeth.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day that that happened, either. But, Gregory is a warm, considerate, loving, God-fearing man and he loves my sister and he treats her right. I know that at the end of the day, that's all that matters."

"It certainly is," Elizabeth agreed. "And we're very happy for Violet and Gregory, aren't we, Gail?"

"Yes, we are. I know Violet's been depressed for a long time. I'm glad she's so happy now."

"And likewise, we are all absolutely thrilled to see you and Tim so happy together, dear," Hyacinth told her. "No one deserves to be happy more than you do."

"Thank you, Hyacinth."

"Well, I'll go and keep an eye on the little ones while you two finish up in here," said Hyacinth.

"Thanks, Hyacinth. I appreciate that," said Liz.

"It's my pleasure," Hyacinth told her, and then she went into the lounge.

Once the mother and daughter were alone again, Gail took one last look in the mirror and let out a contented sigh. "In just under an hour, Uncle Emmet's going to be walking me down the aisle. And then I will officially become Mrs. Timothy Phillips."

"Well, after today you may be Mrs. Phillips, but always remember that no matter how grown-up you get, you'll never stop being my little girl."

"Thank you, Mum. I was hoping you'd say that."

Elizabeth smiled and pulled Gail into her arms and gave her the biggest, longest hug. "I know I probably sound like a broken record," Elizabeth said once their embrace ended, "but I am so proud of you. Not just because you're getting married to a lovely man today, but because of everything you've survived."

"I'm proud of you too. We've really come through a lot together, haven't we?"

"We certainly have."

"You know, I just can't get over the irony of it all. There was a time when I used to believe that my leukemia diagnosis was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. But if I hadn't gotten sick with leukemia, I would never have met Tim, and you would never have had Amy and Ruby. Whenever people would say to me in the past, 'The Lord moves in mysterious ways,' I just thought it was nothing more than an empty old platitude that people would tell themselves to try and make themselves feel better. But now…I think I appreciate the mysterious ways of Christ more than ever."

"I know what you're saying. It's like in the book of Ruth. You know that story, right?"

"I think I need you to refresh my memory."

"Because of a famine in Israel, a man named Elimelech took his wife Naomi and their two sons and relocated to Moab. Elimelech died, and then both of their sons died, and one of Naomi's daughters-in-law, Ruth, traveled back to Israel with her. Eventually, Ruth married a good, God-fearing man named Boaz and they had a son together named Obed, who was an ancestor of King David and of Jesus Christ, Himself. When Obed was born, people were saying that Naomi had a son. The book of Ruth really is beautiful. And we've been greatly blessed, my dear girl. God has worked in our lives the same way He worked in the lives of Ruth and Naomi. For so long, I was so terrified that I was going to lose you. And when I had that last miscarriage, I was utterly crushed. But had I had that baby, we would never have had Amy and Ruby in our lives. And like you said, had you never gotten sick, you would never have met Tim, and likewise, I would never have even considered trying to get pregnant again with any of my frozen embryos. It's so hard when you're going through the darkness, but when those painful trials come, you can't give up and you can't give in to despair. It's in times like that when you have to hold onto the Lord's hand tighter than ever and keep going, and eventually, He'll bring you back into the light again, in His time."

"You're right, Mum," Gail agreed, and once again, they hugged.

Finally, Elizabeth let out a small sigh, looked into her daughter's eyes and said, "Let's go get you married, huh?"

Gail nodded and said, "Right, Mum. Let's go get married."

Elizabeth then took Gail, Amy, Ruby, and Hyacinth to the church on this gorgeous spring day, and Elizabeth watched in the church with indescribable joy that day as her oldest daughter got married.


End file.
